Friday, December 27, 2013

Biting The Bullet

National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan confirmed the existence of the housing bubble when he wrote on 22 Dec:
"Housing bubble and its inevitable bust bring huge misery to many... We cannot eliminate property cycle but we can try to keep bubbles less bubbly. This means taking away the punch bowl when the party is getting hot, much to the unhappiness of sellers and developers. But this is the right thing to do." The question that remains: is it too little, too late?

S'pore fell from
3rd to 7th place
Fund managers Shroeders and Baring Asset Management are advising clients to avoid Singapore like the plague. Real estate and financial companies account for 47 percent of the Straits Times Index (STI), according to data compiled by Bloomberg. STI was the worst performing developed market this year, dropping 9.5 percent since May. Heading the plunge were property firms like City Developments (down 25 percent) and Capitaland (down 18 percent). Even rentals for Orchard Road prime retail space told the same story, nosing downwards by 2.1 percent.

Dividends from real-estate investment trusts lose their shine when 10-year US bonds climbed to a two-year high in September. Many of the property buyers come from neighbours like Indonesia, but IMF has lowered the growth target for South-east Asia's biggest economy to 5 - 5.5 percent this year and the next, down from 6.2 in 2012. "There's no driver to spur investment interest in Singapore," said Baring Asset Management's head of Asian multi-asset strategy, "The recent penny stock crash isn't really helping." He was referring to the $8.6 billion wiped out by three commodity firms in October, which happened under the noses of watchdogs Monetary Authorty of Singapore (MAS) and Singapore Exchange. As usual, the investigation is taking place after the horses have bolted.

On the brighter side of things, Samsung has launched a new TV that responses to hand gestures. Just imagine, when your pet hate politician comes on screen, you can raise a middle finger, and he goes off in a poof. No need to wait for another by-election.

37 comments:

  1. Thanks Tattler. Your last paragraph made me laugh out loud.

    ReplyDelete
  2. One can laugh off the remarks of this $8 Minister if not for the seriousness of the situation. It is not so much a matter of locking the stable door after the horses have bolted. It is an indication of the systemic failure of the leadership. The Little India riots provides a good example After announcing that it was an isolated incident a COI was formed.Surely if it was so it would be unlikely to recur? Why then the need for a COI and all the other measures taken? The PM says that we can talk about the underlying social causes later when every other concerned citizens wanted it dealt with by the COI. The leaders' refusal to acknowledge the failings is a real cause for worry.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The COI is for THEIR benefit.
      Not for our benefit.

      The COI is to tell them what they want to hear.

      Delete
  3. If it is only as easy as Tattler had it concluded here.
    Me am afraid that even if they are out of sight, one will not be able to feel unhaunted and unhurt.
    They may claim to be holy ghosts. But, those haunted knows how evil and vain they can be.

    patriot

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You mean Holy Goh of the Trinity fame?

      Delete
  4. Frankly if there is enough demand for BTO flats, why does our Govt need to slow down the target such that our flats are over subscribed at every application exercise ? Why manipulate & shore up the demand artificially? They already say the BTO will be build according to demand but their action speaks otherwise as if they are the ones manipulating the market, are't they?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, this cow (and the last horse) is trying to reflate the bubble by controlling supply even when there is still demand hoping to reignite the rising trend of house prices. The only way out for the $200b of housing and property developers (not to mention REITS) loans in the banks balance sheet is to inflate, inflate and inflate.

      If koolaid drinkers want to feel happy, all they need is exercise just one of their brain cell and listen carefully what the highest priest of the Anglo Saxon economic model, Larry Summers had to say in November: that all of developed Anglo-Saxon world, from Alaska to NZ on passing by UK HK and red dot, would need "perpetual bubbles" henceforth just to avoid depression. Silliporean kooaid drinkers will all enjoy high inflation and negative real interest rates for the rest of our lives. And the millionaires in the MAS shud just stop bothering to tell us how the strong sing dollar will help lower inflation, those freaking bunch of ivory tower Fed copy cats.

      Delete
  5. Bubbles are like virginal maidens, one prick and it's over.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Singapore why like this?
    I thot LKY has been mentoring a capable team to take over from him over these last 20 years?

    LKY - what happened?
    Can I have my money back please?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Shit Times say 1 gambler will affect the lifes of 7 others.

      Just imagine when our PAP leaders gave us 2 gambing dens to get rich fast & furious, how many affected should be ever so thankful to PAP? Some more that will be on top of online gambling to be permitted later!!!

      So don't simply say our PAP leaders are up to no good, at least they give us hope to gamble & dream to become rich & greedy, just like them!!!

      Delete
    2. Some those who gamble can smoke all they can, our PAP Govt can some more close one eye & not fine them like those at coffee shops or hawker centres?

      At least some will say our PAP leaders are so damn great with their conscience & principles!!! Got money, everything is possible.

      Delete
  7. Did samsung gesture control include virtual slap function? If yes, I am willing to buy and give both Khaw and LHL a virtual tight slap on behalf of all Singaporeans.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You do the slapping while I clobber both idiots on the head with a clenched fist function.
      The 77 PAP buggers should be main characters for the
      "Wac - A -Mole game as a tribute to their collective self service.

      Delete
    2. SLAP! Just ask the Danny how it feels.

      Delete
    3. Dhanabalan

      Delete
  8. The comments posted here are just as ascerbic and witty as Tattler.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tattler is the inspiration and the comments more meaningful than what the PAP stooges have delivered.

      Delete
  9. Property bubble? You sure or not? Property market is too big to fail, thats why the G is increasing the population to 10 million -of course they are not telling Sinkies this - and thats why the G is slowing down the building of BTO flats. Gotta sustain bubble, mah.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Down town line is down! Again!

    These million dollar LTA fat cats and cronies don't even have the presence of mind to change to a more auspicious name, down down down! yet the minister and PTC say fares are going up up up!

    ReplyDelete
  11. The DownTime Line?

    Under their watch, they have built up bubbles everywhere, not only in the property and stock markets and the population numbers, but also in a bloated bureacracy and in the minsterial salaries. Will they take away this punch bowl when the party is getting hot, because it is the right thing to do? Maybe in our dreams, because it will bring misery to the annointed few. And I can envisage all the infrastructures now being built at great expense will end up as one big bubble.

    Did anyone notice during the flare-up at Little India, none of the top guns in the Administration or the Party were at the scene? Where were the head honchos of the SPF and the Home Team? Only after all the dust had settled did they make their dramatic appearances, like one Minister who detected alcohol one day later. Maybe it was the lingering alcohol which they imbibed at their Kallang Theatre party the day before. Can you blame the rank and file for running away? Ok, it is a once in 44 year occurence, so everyone is out of practice, ie, we need more riots for them to bone up!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Yah, bubbles bubbles everywhere, not a place to hide. We have a bubble in the wage gap and Gini Coefficient. In cost of living, inflation, COE, medical costs, public transport fares, rentals, floods, train breakdowns, strikes, riots, etc... Even in the low TFR. There is a bubble, and growing, in the number of millionaires and billionaires. Is there a bubble in the number of homeless, destitute, jobless? No wonder the average Sinkie always KPKB. Many of these bubbles are good to be busted. And how is our highly paid Government doing about all these? Wait and see lor.

    PM Lee: "I do not accept that we must straight away ask whether fundamental approaches or the whole way of how society is organised needs to be re-thought immediately."
    (with reference to the riot - assuming he can think. I need to buy this new Samsung tv)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Gini index reflects the plight of being poor in an unfair, unequal society; caused by a love affair with GDP numbers. GDP is only an average. For example when you have someone's head in an oven and his/her feet in a bucket of ice, you can say on the average this poor soul is doing really well. Just ask any statistician.

      Delete
  13. Why is a million dollar a year salary Millionaire Minister defending a fare increase for SMRT headed by a $600K/year CEO-General?

    Why can't the $600K/year salary CEO-General defend and justify his own fare increase?

    Is the PAP government working for the profitable private companies or are they working for Singaporeans?

    Why are Singaporeans paying a million dollar salary to a Minister to help a private bus company increase the fares?

    How does it benefit a Singaporean to vote for a PAP government?

    ReplyDelete
  14. After his 1st wife died, Mai-ham started planting his U-mates from his UK days in the public sector. One such was his friend's wife made a VP, so stupid and incompetent that she pao angpaos to shut others mouths.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I welcome the fare hike because it suggests;
    a)PAP is not on our side
    b)Nothing will ever change under a PAP gahmen ... Pay and Pay
    c)The stupid PAP wayang logic:

    We have COE to encourage people to take public transport.
    We now increase MRT fares to also encourage people to take public transport?

    Even though both SMRT and SBS Transit is profitable and are private companies.
    Why is a PAP Millionaire Minister fighting so hard for fare increase on behalf of profitable, private companies?
    I thot LHL say he is on our side?

    Did not Singaporeans (actually it was the PAP gahmen) just give $1 billion dollars in subsidy to these same profitable private companies to buy more buses?

    How does voting PAP benefit a Singaporean?

    ReplyDelete
  16. One person said there is no permanent friends, but there is permanent money making scheme interest, to entice people with the same interest to co operate? Mean there is a group of people who share the interest of getting the world highest pay and helping each other?

    Now the focus is the foreigners which they don't know much of their past methods? So most likely they will vote for them, but Punggol East by election proof it to be false? Usually sweet soundly words need to be invent to mast the real intentions?

    So the manifestos for the 2016, is likely to be (How to make nothing, but money from the foreigners)?

    No choice foreign workers got pay levies how? They came in to vote for us so we can enjoy 10 times the pay of the Nordic ministers pay, we try not to antagonize them, if not they will not come to become citizens to vote for us to maintain our pay?

    Should use some creative wordings, to explain to the people foreigners are good make use of them to make money, because many of the lower income earners are too poor, hardly earn enough to survive. We need to give some profit sharing schemes so they can votes for us too? Because of their depress pay and out of jobs or underwork?

    Because many foreigners came to Singapore take away their jobs and depress their pays, so they had not alot of money to pay for the indirect taxes, but the foreigners have money, now entice them to come later can indirectly taxes them, so we can pay ourselves 8 months of bonus, but please don't say it directly, not so nice, sugarcoat it, if not the foreigners will not come?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Many people quite naive during 2011, we give them some profit sharing schemes and incentives they vote for us, but later after 2011 we got to take back more from them and more if not how to pay our world highest salaries and friends, as one person said they no permant friend but permant interest?

    These money came from them, we later got to get back from them and the foreigners, indirectly, but we got to invent some like excuse, to sugarcoat the words and said it another way, so as not to antagonise them and make it look good through the medias?

    There is not much choices, so many years we just use many nice sounding words they believe us, the 60 pc quite stupad? But we think they are wise up especially the foreigners in Punggol East by election, they are getting smarter, but don't forget we got the white paper we can bring in more people to vote for us? We got use nice words and nice talking in another ways to pacify the foreigners and lure them to come to make money for us?

    6.9 millions is the answer to our players, the next five years we still can enjoy our multi millions salaries, five more years of bliss, they said every minutes there a fool to be born is true? Don't forget our salaries not cheap we got to pay some old people to do those stopping jobs of the critics? If not how can we are the most well paid politicians in the world?

    Many lower workers pay depressed no choice, we got to bring in the cheap foreigners to maximise our profits because we own much of Singapore GLC and Singapore companies, too bad many is lure by our incentives and profit sharing schemes and vote for us?

    Some maybe be out of jobs, due to importing of more foreigners but too bad for them? We need more foreigners to vote for us to maintain our pays? On and off we develop some profit sharing schemes to help those out of jobs and depressed pay Singaporean to reduce their anger?

    ReplyDelete
  18. The reasons why we don't say we tax high is because people might not like it and vote as out, so we tax indirectly? Nordic countries tax directly higher, but they give more social welfare like education, retrenchment benefits old age benefits? They got less inequality before less foreigners to take away their jobs and depress their pay?

    The reasons is that we can give them profit sharing schemes and other incentive to make them beholden on us and votes for us again and again to maintain our highest pay in the world? You all these people have a little greed with them just give them some incentives and profit sharing scheme the old people or the guillible will come to volunteer with us?

    So many could be fool why we don't tax directly, in flat our indirect taxes is the highest in the world ,so we need to lure the foreigners to come to support the levies , the local not much left with their pay depress by the foreigners and other indirect taxes like coe, erp, gst and levies etc.?

    If we use the Nordic system we might be voted out because they use a high taxes systems which benefit the people more but benefits ourself less?

    That why we always use the medias to highlight how much we help the poeple, what benefit they get and how much they benefit from the system but not to tell them the negative sides of the story, they may not like it?

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  19. All these years we able to success because of the little greed in the people, we can make use of the guillible old people to volunteer for us and stop the critics? Lot of the old people were psycho and make use by us but they are very happy to be make use by us?

    We use the medias as we own the medias very effective, we kept broadcasting the good things we do but rarely the bad things so many feel that we do lots of good things? Remember see and hear the right stuff?

    2011 proof many had the small greed in them, all these profit sharing schemes, incentives schemes, are their own money we get indirectly from them like coe, erp gst, levies and now the cpf locked up schemes for life?

    But the Punggol East might be game changers because it is in the middle of our take back money schemes, of course what we give out must be take back more that why we lure the guillible foreigners to come, some to contribute to the levies, gst, erp, coe and many other indirect schemes and vote for us, they don't know much how we operate, but many of the older citizens slower realised?

    Of course we much let them see we favour them the foreigners, if not how they go to take the bait isn't it?

    As these levies get from the foreigners cheaper workers are actually our worker pay, with cheaper foreigners Singaporean got to take low pay and their job maybe taken away by the foreigners and the new citizens jobs taken away and depressed by the newer and newer foreingers? We just tell them foreigner workers, create value they believe so stupad?

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  20. Talking about indirect taxes, taxi drivers must be the worst slaves that before they can put food on the table, they have to make sure they earn enough 1st to pay rentals to their taxi companies. This essentially mean they are also paying off the COEs as an indirect tax because PAP Govt treat taxis as private transport. Just imagine which job paying you around S $3k~$4k needs you to pay around S $8k~$10k in indirect taxes annually in the form of COES but minus basic employee benefits ?

    Some more the profits made go to the taxi companies which is majority owned by GLC companies. And why is our PAP Govt now not bothered by the mess caused by different taxi companies fare structure? Is it because of their own interest?

    Now looks like our PAP leaders in charge are only good at making money at the slightest opportunity, not very much different from loan sharks. Even online gambling they want to implement, for God's sake FUCK why do they need to be so greedy?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is one difference between loan sharks & our G. One does not use law but the other one uses the jail to threaten desperate debtors.

      Delete
  21. Overall Singapore taxes is likely to be much higher then the Nordic countries? Consider the fact that with all those Levies, COE, GST, ERP and CPF locked up schemes for life and other schemes etc?

    For the low wages workers because of the levies on foreign workers, their pay are kept so low and depressed they hardly able to survive to day inflation and might possibly lost their jobs to the foreigners one of these days, and they hardly got savings, and their CPF locked up for life schemes?

    So sometime they got some handout to support their depressed pay?

    For the better income then the lower wage workers their contributions to indirect taxes and competitions with more and more foreign workers likely eat away all their savings if unlucky their job take away from them from the foreign workers and likely to be depressed?

    Most of their income likely spent on COE, ERP, GST, Levies and other schemes etc?

    If more and more foreigners come which target 6.9 millions people?

    More and more new citizens came to take away the older new citizens will lose their jobs or depress pay, later part of their life they likely to live like the Hong Kong cage houses or sleep in the street?

    The benefit most were the ministers which got the highest pay in the world, they only give back some benefit maybe during the 2016 to make people happy?

    The Nordic system has the higher pay to the jobs the said people don't want in SIngapore and higher taxes, they have no indirect taxes? Their ministers pay is 10 time lower then the Singapore systems?

    If more oppositions came in the ministers pay are likely to be lower comparable to the Nordic systems, so they don't need so much indirect taxes and foreigners importing to maintain it?


    Nordic bottom pay workers were much more higher then Singapore? Their engineers pay not alot of difference from the cleaners pay?

    The don't lure foreigners to contribute to the indirect taxes systems, which need more and more foreigners to join the systems? They have less inequality and much higher birthrates? Their old ages enjoy their golden years looking after their grand children and work life balance much better?

    The have a very successful multi parties systems which each different parties contribute their best to the people?

    But most of the direct taxes are the people savings they don't import people to depress pay or take away jobs? The taxes are people savings to give back to free education until graduate, jobless benefits, each countries has their own interpretation and old ages benefits, you don't see them work until they died?

    ReplyDelete
  22. The pioneer batch of minister like Goh Keng Swee, Toh Chin Chye, Rajaratnam and later Ong Teng Cheong, all out to serve the people?

    In the 60s Singapore face with numerous challenge the Indonesia confrontasi, racial riots & Communist insurgency?

    So in these desparate time all got to work together heart to heart the pioneer workers struggle hard to build Singapore but numerous end up still got to work until they died because of their depress wages?

    The one man view of the world retired most of them and claim all the credits, which need to share with the pioneer minsters and all the old people of Singapore, if these old people don't struggle, we don't have Singapore of today, but the sad things because of the inflation and low wages they got to work until they died?

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  23. What to do...

    PAP Gov't is not Singapore Gov't what!

    PAP Gov't is for PAP themselves...

    So please wakes up.

    When PAP talks..they not talking about Singapore or the health nor future of mankind..

    But always about PAP first lah.

    Zzzzzz

    ReplyDelete
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    ReplyDelete