Tue, 30 Oct 2012 14:15:00 GMT
客厅隔出三间房 组屋屋主劲赚4000月租
.
记者：庄庆宁
新闻视频
实龙岗一名组屋屋主将客厅间隔成房间，并以短期租约的方式，出租给别人，每月劲赚约4000元租金。
这间位于实龙岗北的双层公寓式组屋，屋主将楼下客厅分隔成三个房间，然后出租给外籍人士。记者佯称要租房，特别走访了这间组屋。
“我们有六间房间，然后四间出租，有冷气、有网线，全部包下来，每间房间大约1000元左右。”屋主这么介绍。他也声称，房客多数是附近工作的工程师，还有学生，租约不超过六个月。
“我们有签半年、有签三个月，所以正好你两个月过后，随时都会有人出出进进，所以你要来就住，要走就走这样子。”他补充。
有关单位的邻居告诉记者，屋主一家四口，在这个单位住了约三年，大部分时间都足不出户，尽管房客流动性大，不过并没有给他们带来不便。
“经常都有换不同的人，但是他们就是早出晚归，所以我们也很少看到他们，吵杂倒是不会，不过偶尔会有一两个人走出来抽烟。”邻居这么表示。
这样租房方式，让有关屋主每个月赚进大约4000元的租金，不过，建屋局警告，无论是出租客厅，或是短期出租组屋，都属违例行为。
建屋局回答本台询问时表示，组屋不能以少过六个月的租期出租出去，屋主也不允许把客厅分隔成卧房出租给别人。违反条例者，可能面对罚款，组屋也可能被没收。
不过，目前还没有屋主，因为出租客厅隔间，而遭建屋局惩罚。但今年却有三名屋主，因为短期出租组屋，遭建屋局没收房子。
- wong chee tat :)
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Novartis to invest $500 mln in new Singapore site
Novartis to invest $500 mln in new Singapore site
ReutersReuters
ZURICH, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Novartis said on Wednesday it would spend more than $500 million on a new biotechnology production site in Singapore to support its growing pipeline of biologics.
The Basel-based company said construction of the new site would begin in early 2013 and the facility is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2016.
Novartis said the site will focus on drug substance manufacturing based on cell culture technology.
(Reporting by Caroline Copley)
- wong chee tat :)
ReutersReuters
ZURICH, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Novartis said on Wednesday it would spend more than $500 million on a new biotechnology production site in Singapore to support its growing pipeline of biologics.
The Basel-based company said construction of the new site would begin in early 2013 and the facility is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2016.
Novartis said the site will focus on drug substance manufacturing based on cell culture technology.
(Reporting by Caroline Copley)
- wong chee tat :)
"Gwanghae" reigns supreme at S. Korea film awards
Published: Wednesday October 31, 2012 MYT 1:34:00 PM
Updated: Wednesday October 31, 2012 MYT 2:03:02 PM
"Gwanghae" reigns supreme at S. Korea film awards
SEOUL: A costume drama about a stand-in monarch has swept South Korea's domestic Oscars, winning 15 of the 23 awards up for grabs, including best film.
"Gwanghae: The Man Who Became King" - distributed internationally under the title "Masquerade" - also won a best actor gong for its star Lee Byung-Hun at the annual Daejong (Grand Bell) Film Awards on Tuesday night.
Lee won for his dual role as King Gwanghae, the 15th ruler of Korea's Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), and the humble acrobat Hasun, who stands in for the monarch when he faces the threat of being poisoned.
The film, which also picked up best director, best supporting actor and best screenplay awards, was one of two Korean films this year to break through the 10-million ticket barrier at the domestic box office.
The other, "The Thieves", a star-studded casino heist movie shot in Macau, only managed one award - best supporting actress for Kim Hae-Sook.
And there was only a single prize for "Pieta", maverick director Kim Ki-Duk's gritty revenge thriller that won the Golden Lion - a first for a Korean production - at this year's Venice International Film Festival.
The movie garnered a best actress award for Jo Min-Soo, who won for her role as a woman claiming to be the mother of a brutal loan shark.
2012 looks set to be a record-breaking year for South Korean cinema.
The Korean Film Council recently announced around 120 million cinema tickets had been sold across the country by the end of the second quarter of 2012, a year-on-year rise of around 20 percent. - AFP
- wong chee tat :)
Updated: Wednesday October 31, 2012 MYT 2:03:02 PM
"Gwanghae" reigns supreme at S. Korea film awards
SEOUL: A costume drama about a stand-in monarch has swept South Korea's domestic Oscars, winning 15 of the 23 awards up for grabs, including best film.
"Gwanghae: The Man Who Became King" - distributed internationally under the title "Masquerade" - also won a best actor gong for its star Lee Byung-Hun at the annual Daejong (Grand Bell) Film Awards on Tuesday night.
Lee won for his dual role as King Gwanghae, the 15th ruler of Korea's Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), and the humble acrobat Hasun, who stands in for the monarch when he faces the threat of being poisoned.
The film, which also picked up best director, best supporting actor and best screenplay awards, was one of two Korean films this year to break through the 10-million ticket barrier at the domestic box office.
The other, "The Thieves", a star-studded casino heist movie shot in Macau, only managed one award - best supporting actress for Kim Hae-Sook.
And there was only a single prize for "Pieta", maverick director Kim Ki-Duk's gritty revenge thriller that won the Golden Lion - a first for a Korean production - at this year's Venice International Film Festival.
The movie garnered a best actress award for Jo Min-Soo, who won for her role as a woman claiming to be the mother of a brutal loan shark.
2012 looks set to be a record-breaking year for South Korean cinema.
The Korean Film Council recently announced around 120 million cinema tickets had been sold across the country by the end of the second quarter of 2012, a year-on-year rise of around 20 percent. - AFP
- wong chee tat :)
Property cooling measures in HK unlikely to affect S'pore: experts
Property cooling measures in HK unlikely to affect S'pore: experts
By Lynda Hong | Posted: 30 October 2012 2223 hrs
SINGAPORE: The recent property cooling measures introduced in Hong Kong will not have an impact on Singapore property prices. Experts said foreign property investors are unlikely to switch their portfolio from Hong Kong to Singapore.
Besides being leading international financial centres, both Singapore and Hong Kong hold some of the world's most expensive homes.
Hong Kong tops the list, according to research from real estate agency Savills, while Singapore -- the fourth most expensive in the world -- continue to see private home prices soaring to new highs.
Both cities have introduced a series of cooling measures to dampen prices.
Hong Kong introduced its third set of measures in two months last Friday, requiring foreign buyers to pay 15 per cent tax. This is more than Singapore's Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty of 10 per cent - introduced in December 2011.
Analysts said the move will unlikely cause foreign investors to move to Singapore and boost its property prices higher.
To cool its property market, Singapore has capped the home loan tenure, the sixth cooling measure in recent years. However, with high liquidity in the global market, analysts said new measures would be more frequent, with one to two measures a year being the norm in the years to come.
Singapore has also beefed up the supply of private homes -- an assurance that should help investors make measured decisions.
Colin Tan, head of research at Chesterton Suntec International, said: "At the moment, the perception is that HK is trying to fight fire... At the same time, they are trying to fight the free market status. We have committed to supply as much as demand, whereas they have not yet said so."
Still, market watchers forecast home prices to remain hot in Singapore.
Alan Cheong, head of research at Savills Singapore, said: "Developers will ultimately have to pass the land cost to the buyers. You have a case where land cost has risen by 15 to 30 plus per cent over the past six months.
"Come next year, with land being about 60 per cent of development cost, developers will probably have to raise prices by 10 to 15 per cent for certain areas, particularly in the suburbs."
While Hong Kong and Singapore are considered safe havens for property investing, some analysts said investors may look to second-tier Asian markets which have less government intervention.
-CNA/ac
- wong chee tat :)
By Lynda Hong | Posted: 30 October 2012 2223 hrs
SINGAPORE: The recent property cooling measures introduced in Hong Kong will not have an impact on Singapore property prices. Experts said foreign property investors are unlikely to switch their portfolio from Hong Kong to Singapore.
Besides being leading international financial centres, both Singapore and Hong Kong hold some of the world's most expensive homes.
Hong Kong tops the list, according to research from real estate agency Savills, while Singapore -- the fourth most expensive in the world -- continue to see private home prices soaring to new highs.
Both cities have introduced a series of cooling measures to dampen prices.
Hong Kong introduced its third set of measures in two months last Friday, requiring foreign buyers to pay 15 per cent tax. This is more than Singapore's Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty of 10 per cent - introduced in December 2011.
Analysts said the move will unlikely cause foreign investors to move to Singapore and boost its property prices higher.
To cool its property market, Singapore has capped the home loan tenure, the sixth cooling measure in recent years. However, with high liquidity in the global market, analysts said new measures would be more frequent, with one to two measures a year being the norm in the years to come.
Singapore has also beefed up the supply of private homes -- an assurance that should help investors make measured decisions.
Colin Tan, head of research at Chesterton Suntec International, said: "At the moment, the perception is that HK is trying to fight fire... At the same time, they are trying to fight the free market status. We have committed to supply as much as demand, whereas they have not yet said so."
Still, market watchers forecast home prices to remain hot in Singapore.
Alan Cheong, head of research at Savills Singapore, said: "Developers will ultimately have to pass the land cost to the buyers. You have a case where land cost has risen by 15 to 30 plus per cent over the past six months.
"Come next year, with land being about 60 per cent of development cost, developers will probably have to raise prices by 10 to 15 per cent for certain areas, particularly in the suburbs."
While Hong Kong and Singapore are considered safe havens for property investing, some analysts said investors may look to second-tier Asian markets which have less government intervention.
-CNA/ac
- wong chee tat :)
Sandy deals a blow to popular US websites
Sandy deals a blow to popular US websites
Posted: 30 October 2012 2327 hrs
WASHINGTON: The Huffington Post and other popular US websites struggled to get back on their feet on Tuesday after superstorm Sandy knocked them out of cyberspace.
On its homepage, the Huffington Post blamed power outages triggered by Monday's storm for "technical difficulties" as it offered readers minimalist post-storm updates with no photos or links to other parts of its vast site.
"We are working around the clock to get the site back to normal," it said in a boldface editor's note.
The hip Manhattan-centric website Gawker and stablemates such as Jezebel and Gizmodo were also out of action overnight, although Gawker managed to restore minimal service using an old-school live blog format.
Buzzfeed invited its visitors on Tuesday to proceed to the website's Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook accounts for fresh content, in the absence of homepage updates since Monday.
On its Tumblr account, Buzzfeed said it was told by DataGram -- an Internet service provider that also serves the Huffington Post and Gawker -- that it had sustained serious flooding during the storm.
- AFP/xq
- wong chee tat :)
Posted: 30 October 2012 2327 hrs
WASHINGTON: The Huffington Post and other popular US websites struggled to get back on their feet on Tuesday after superstorm Sandy knocked them out of cyberspace.
On its homepage, the Huffington Post blamed power outages triggered by Monday's storm for "technical difficulties" as it offered readers minimalist post-storm updates with no photos or links to other parts of its vast site.
"We are working around the clock to get the site back to normal," it said in a boldface editor's note.
The hip Manhattan-centric website Gawker and stablemates such as Jezebel and Gizmodo were also out of action overnight, although Gawker managed to restore minimal service using an old-school live blog format.
Buzzfeed invited its visitors on Tuesday to proceed to the website's Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook accounts for fresh content, in the absence of homepage updates since Monday.
On its Tumblr account, Buzzfeed said it was told by DataGram -- an Internet service provider that also serves the Huffington Post and Gawker -- that it had sustained serious flooding during the storm.
- AFP/xq
- wong chee tat :)
S'pore economy likely to have "below potential" growth in 2013: MAS
S'pore economy likely to have "below potential" growth in 2013: MAS
By Linette Lim | Posted: 30 October 2012 2129 hrs
SINGAPORE: Singapore's economy may likely see another year of "below potential" growth in 2013, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in its half-yearly macroeconomic review.
MAS said the economy is under pressure from two fronts -- weak export demand globally, and rising business costs due to domestic restructuring.
Large scale public projects such as the construction of the Downtown Line and new Build-To-Order flats have helped cushion Singapore from the global downturn.
Such domestic-oriented activities contributed to almost 70 per cent of economic growth in the first half of the year, even though it only accounts for a third of Singapore's GDP.
Still, that is not enough to fully offset the slowdown in the trade-related activities, the IT cluster, and regionally-exposed services.
Saktiandi Supaat, head of FX Research (Global Markets) at Maybank, said: "Growth is about one to three per cent next year for Singapore. Potential growth, as you know, MAS has always highlighted that it is about three to five per cent, and still maintains that three to five per cent potential growth.
"So there may be some upside to that one to three per cent if things work out in the second half."
For this year, the central bank is sticking to its projection that Singapore will grow 1.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent.
The cyclical downturn in the world economy -- especially in advanced nations -- is affecting Singapore at a time when it is undergoing domestic restructuring.
Jimmy Koh, head of Economics (Treasury Research) at UOB, said: "Liquidity has pushed up asset prices, pushed up CPI and is likely to remain so. At the same time you're trying to restructure your economy to enhance productivity and some sort of wage increase is being seen, (as we are) cutting down our reliance on foreign workers. So you have a lot of moving parts all coming at the same time."
MAS said that "it is important for medium-term restructuring in the domestic economy to proceed even as Singapore faces short-term cyclical headwinds."
Domestic restructuring, which saw the tightening of foreign worker policies, has boosted demand for local workers in the low- and mid-skilled segments, especially in domestic industries like construction and services.
MAS said unit labour costs could rise by as much as three to four per cent in 2013, following the four to five per cent increase this year -- which in turn could be passed on to consumers.
As a result, the sequential increase in core prices, while unlikely to reach the highs in early 2012, is expected to pick up, driving core inflation which excludes accommodation and private road transport, to the range of two to three per cent in 2013, from 2.5 per cent this year.
At the same time, CPI-All Items inflation is expected to ease from slightly above 4.5 per cent to the 3.5 to 4.5 per cent range next year.
-CNA/ac
- wong chee tat :)
By Linette Lim | Posted: 30 October 2012 2129 hrs
SINGAPORE: Singapore's economy may likely see another year of "below potential" growth in 2013, according to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in its half-yearly macroeconomic review.
MAS said the economy is under pressure from two fronts -- weak export demand globally, and rising business costs due to domestic restructuring.
Large scale public projects such as the construction of the Downtown Line and new Build-To-Order flats have helped cushion Singapore from the global downturn.
Such domestic-oriented activities contributed to almost 70 per cent of economic growth in the first half of the year, even though it only accounts for a third of Singapore's GDP.
Still, that is not enough to fully offset the slowdown in the trade-related activities, the IT cluster, and regionally-exposed services.
Saktiandi Supaat, head of FX Research (Global Markets) at Maybank, said: "Growth is about one to three per cent next year for Singapore. Potential growth, as you know, MAS has always highlighted that it is about three to five per cent, and still maintains that three to five per cent potential growth.
"So there may be some upside to that one to three per cent if things work out in the second half."
For this year, the central bank is sticking to its projection that Singapore will grow 1.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent.
The cyclical downturn in the world economy -- especially in advanced nations -- is affecting Singapore at a time when it is undergoing domestic restructuring.
Jimmy Koh, head of Economics (Treasury Research) at UOB, said: "Liquidity has pushed up asset prices, pushed up CPI and is likely to remain so. At the same time you're trying to restructure your economy to enhance productivity and some sort of wage increase is being seen, (as we are) cutting down our reliance on foreign workers. So you have a lot of moving parts all coming at the same time."
MAS said that "it is important for medium-term restructuring in the domestic economy to proceed even as Singapore faces short-term cyclical headwinds."
Domestic restructuring, which saw the tightening of foreign worker policies, has boosted demand for local workers in the low- and mid-skilled segments, especially in domestic industries like construction and services.
MAS said unit labour costs could rise by as much as three to four per cent in 2013, following the four to five per cent increase this year -- which in turn could be passed on to consumers.
As a result, the sequential increase in core prices, while unlikely to reach the highs in early 2012, is expected to pick up, driving core inflation which excludes accommodation and private road transport, to the range of two to three per cent in 2013, from 2.5 per cent this year.
At the same time, CPI-All Items inflation is expected to ease from slightly above 4.5 per cent to the 3.5 to 4.5 per cent range next year.
-CNA/ac
- wong chee tat :)
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