Dennis Chew leaves Y.E.S. 93.3FM after 20 years on air

Dennis Chew leaves Y.E.S. 93.3FM after 20 years on air
Posted: 18 February 2013 1654 hrs
    
SINGAPORE: Singapore deejay Dennis Chew revealed Monday that he will be moving to radio station Love 97.2FM in March, after 20 years with Y.E.S. 93.3FM.

The popular deejay, who turns 40 this year, explained that he decided to join Love 97.2FM because he wanted to "break out of my comfort zone".

"I hope that the new environment will spur me to experiment with different presentation styles and come up with fresh ideas," said Chew.

Chew, who started his career with Capital Radio 95.8FM before heading to Y.E.S. 93.3FM, will be the first deejay to have worked in all three MediaCorp Chinese-language radio stations, when he joins the Love 97.2FM crew.

He will be co-hosting the evening show on Love 97.2FM with fellow deejay Chua Lee Lian every weekday, 5-8pm from March 18.

"I love this guy and am looking forward to working together with him," said Chua.

"I can imagine laughing a lot and bouncing off lots of crazy ideas with him. I hope I won't get wrinkles from all the laughing."

-CNA/ha

- wong chee tat :)

Budget 2013: Higher income cap, bigger payouts for WIS scheme

Budget 2013: Higher income cap, bigger payouts for WIS scheme
By Tan Qiuyi | Posted: 25 February 2013 1706 hrs
     
SINGAPORE: The Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) scheme will now cover workers earning up to S$1,900 a month. This is S$200 more than the previous cap.

About 480,000 Singaporean workers or about 30 per cent of the citizen workforce will benefit from the new cap.

Payouts will also be raised by between 25 and 50 per cent, depending on age.

The cash component will also be higher. Workers will now get 40 per cent of Workfare in cash, up from 29 per cent.

CPF contribution rates for low-income workers will also be raised to the same level as those for higher income workers.

Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who announced these changes in his Budget Statement on Monday, said with higher WIS payouts, even with more being paid in cash, workers will still receive more in WIS top-ups to their CPF accounts.

- CNA/fa

- wong chee tat :)

Budget 2013: More progressive tax structure for properties and cars

Budget 2013: More progressive tax structure for properties and cars
By Hetty Musfirah | Posted: 25 February 2013 1723 hrs
     
SINGAPORE: A more progressive tax structure will be introduced for properties and cars to achieve greater social equity without hurting Singapore's competitiveness.

The zero per cent property tax rate band, which currently applies to the first S$6,000 of annual value of properties will be widened to S$8,000.

Currently, property tax rates for owner-occupied residential property are at zero per cent, four per cent and six per cent, depending on the annual values of the properties.

In addition to the current four per cent and six per cent tax bands, the government will introduce new bands of eight per cent to 16 per cent.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, who announced these changes in his Budget Statement on Monday, said 950,000 owner-occupied residential properties will be able to enjoy some tax savings.

High-end investment properties will also see significant increases in tax rates.

Instead of the current rate of 10 per cent flat, they will be increased to between 12 per cent and 20 per cent.

As for passenger cars and taxis, there will be a new tiered Additional Registration Fee (ARF) structure.

The ARF for car models with an Open Market Value of more than S$20,000 of vehicle's open market value will be 140 per cent.

Any value beyond S$50,000 will attract an ARF rate of 180 per cent.

The changes will apply to vehicles registered with Certificates of Entitlement obtained from the first bidding exercise in March 2013.

- CNA/fa

- wong chee tat :)

Budget 2013: More cash in assistance & higher allowance for pensioners

Budget 2013: More cash in assistance & higher allowance for pensioners
By Vimita Mohandas | Posted: 25 February 2013 1735 hrs
     
SINGAPORE: The public assistance scheme, which provides a basic level of financial assistance to those who are unable to work, will be enhanced.

A couple will now receive S$90 more per month for a total of $790 in cash assistance while a recipient in a single-person household will receive S$450 in cash.

Government pensioners will also see their allowance increase by S$20 to S$280 per month. Their monthly pension ceiling will be raised to S$1,210.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced these changes in his Budget Statement on Monday.

The government will also improve its social service delivery to make it easier for people to get help.

About 20 Social Service Offices in HDB towns will be rolled out over the next few years.

Eldercare services will also be integrated.

Aged care services of the Centre for Enabled Living and the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) will be integrated under one roof at AIC.

The Ministry of Social and Family Development will strengthen its focus on persons with disabilities with an agency dedicated to the disabled.

An additional S$200 million will be injected into the ComCare Fund, while another S$10 million grant will be given to the self-help groups.

- CNA/fa

- wong chee tat :)

MAS imposes restrictions on private car loans

MAS imposes restrictions on private car loans
By Sing Geok Shan | Posted: 25 February 2013 1918 hrs
     
SINGAPORE: The Monetary Authority of Singapore is imposing restrictions on loans for private cars to safeguard against borrowers defaulting on their repayments.

Beginning on February 26, the central bank said consumers will be limited to borrowing 60 per cent of the purchase price of a motor vehicle when the open market value (OMV) is S$20,000 or less.

A tighter limit of 50 per cent will be imposed when the OMV is more than S$20,000.

The MAS is also capping the tenure of a motor vehicle loan at five years.

"The financing restrictions are necessary to encourage financial prudence among buyers," the MAS said in a statement.

"In this prolonged environment of very low interest rates, there is greater risk of buyers over-extending themselves," it said.

The new restrictions do not apply to loans for either commercial vehicles or for motorcycles.

For re-financing facilities, only the cap on loan tenure applies.

The MAS previously had in place financing restrictions on car loans from February 1995 to January 2003.

- CNA/fa

- wong chee tat :)

Budget 2013: Elderly, lower-income families welcome help

By Elizabeth Soh | Yahoo! Newsroom

• 
  Yahoo! Newsroom/Screengrab - DPM Tharman gave his Budget speech in Parliament on Monday

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam's budget speech on Monday was met with a generally positive reaction from Singaporeans.

In particular, the Budget's heavy focus on fighting income inequality and providing more support for lower-income families as well as the elderly drew good feedback from its beneficiaries, who said that some of their bread and butter issues would be alleviated by the new measures.

Elderly, lower income families

Retired seamstress Goh Ah Moi, 67, said that she was very happy that the Government would be providing subsidies of up to 80 per cent to defray the costs of daily consumerables like milk feeds, diapers as well as assistive devices like wheelchairs.

The existing Senior's Mobility Fund will be expanded into a Senior's Mobility and Enabling fund covering a wide range of medical assistive devices and topped up to $50 million. The ElderCare Fund will also be raised by $250 million to $3 billion this year to support patients tapping on subsidised nursing homes and other long-term care services.

"It sounds like it can really help us save a lot of money. I worry every day about how to afford Ensure for my husband, the cost of taking care of him keeps rising every month and I feel bad for our kids," said Mdm Goh in Mandarin. She takes care of her bed-ridden 75-year-old husband, who must be fed milk through a tube and supervised 24/7 since suffering a stroke four months ago.

"Maybe after this we can afford a wheelchair, and I can bring my husband out. He's been stuck at home for the past three months because we can't buy one."

Their two children earn only $1,500 and $1,800 doing odd-jobs and delivering goods and have been struggling with the cost of a domestic helper as well as occasional home nurse costs for their elderly father.

For grandmother Habsah Binte Hassan, 82, the one-off $200 top up to her CPF Medisave Account will help with her worries about affording medical treatment.

"I feel glad and relieved that I can save extra money," said Mdm Habsah, who recently had an eye operation and suffers from high-blood pressure.

The $500 she was receiving twice a year in her Medisave had been enough to cover the cost of treating her eyes but she was concerned about how she would afford medical treatment if her condition worsened, as her four children are all lower or lower-middle income earners with families of their own.

Families with young children, multi-generation households

Families with young children felt initiatives rolled out by DPM Tharman in the areas of pre-school education were a step in the right direction, but felt that more could still be done to help with rising costs of living.

“I think it’s good that the government will be spending so much more on the pre-school sector and expanding capacity, but this is something that should have already been done before to prevent the lack of places and rising costs of childcare,” said bank executive and father of two child-care going children Jason Chen, 34.

“I’m glad that they are acknowledging that there are these huge problems but I’m not grateful. Childcare is something the government needs to provide and support and I hope these promises are really kept.”

Chen’s reaction was to news that the Government would be doubling its expenditure on the pre-school sector over the next five years to over $3 billion as well as bringing in more operators into the childcare Anchor Operator Scheme with the aim of providing another 16,000 additional places by 2017.

Conservancy rebates were dismissed as one-off ‘angpows’ that would not go a long way in alleviating their financial burdens, but others noted that the reduction of levies on domestic helpers would definitely help.

“I can save at least $500 a year with the lower levy, and that’s really quite a lot as money is really tight,” said bank manager Foo Chern How, 42, who supports his wife, three children and two elderly parents, one of whom requires frequent medical assistance, on a $6,000 salary.

Families with children, elderly parents, or members with disabilities will pay $120 down from $170 with effect from March 2013, saving each of these households an average of $600 a year.

Entrepreneurs, business owners adopting cautious attitudes

IT Entrepreneur Mohamad Imran, 29, welcomed the Budget’s move to rely less on foreign labour and more on training schemes to boost Singapore's workforce.

“We believe that the Budget takes a pragmatic but positive stance, and we view the policies as largely positive, because while the labour supply for businesses will be restricted and wages will increase, there are measures to help businesses cope with these constraints while promoting Singaporean jobs,” said Mohamad.

However, while he saw the initial announcements as pro-business, he said that most industry players would adopt a wait-and-see attitude until actual details were released by the related ministries.

With additional reporting by Rahimah Rashith and Nurul Azliah

- wong chee tat :)

Denial of tenure to NTU associate professor sparks outcry

By Shah Salimat |

• 
  An outcry over academic freedom in Singapore has been sparked after an outspoken professor for journalism in Nanyang Technological University was denied tenure (Yahoo! file photo)  less 

An outspoken associate professor for journalism in Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has been denied tenure, sparking an outcry and raising questions over academic freedom in Singapore.

Cardiff University professor Karin Wahl-Jorgensen tweeted Saturday morning that Cherian George, associate professor at NTU’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI), was denied tenure “on the grounds of quality of teaching and research”.

In subsequent tweets, Wahl-Jorgensen, who revealed that she was one of the reviewers for George’s case, said she was “outraged” at the decision not to grant him tenure, and that it could have been “because he sometimes expressed political opinions”.

An adjunct senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies and former journalist with The Straits Times, George has spoken out against media control and has been critical of the ruling People’s Action Party. He joined NTU in 2004.

Wahl-Jorgensen alluded to NTU’s decision being detrimental “for academic freedom” and said it raised “big question marks about international collaborations” with Singapore and NTU.

She said also said George’s application was “watertight” and believed the board’s decision “made no sense on grounds of research and teaching”.

Tenure would give him the contractual right not to have his position terminated without just cause. George was previously denied tenure once in 2009.

Petition started

In reaction to the news, an online petition was set up by final-year WKWSCI student Bhavan Jaipragas to urge the NTU board to “affirm (George’s) stellar teaching credentials and disclose the reasons behind the decision to deny his tenure”. The petition had 308 signatures as of press time, shy of the 350 mark set by the petition.

“We felt it was very important any impression that Dr George's teaching skills were sub-par had to be quickly demolished. We also want the school and university to… categorically dispel claims of curtailment of academic freedom in NTU,” said Jaipragas to Yahoo! Singapore.

Jaipragas said he heard of the news from several sources over the weekend, before such tipoffs were confirmed by Wahl-Jorgensen’s tweets. He said he will deliver hard copies of the petition with the list of signatories to four key members of the NTU leadership, including NTU president Bertil Andersson.

In one of the petition’s comments, associate professor William Ray Lengenbach, head of media at Sunway University College, said, “Cherian George is a significant regional intellectual and his views on Singapore politics should have no bearing on his tenure. If there indeed is government pressure on the university's decisions, it is time for academic staff and administration to stand up against such pressures.”

Among the students who have spoken out against the alleged grounds, alumnus Johnson Zhang commended George for being friendly and knowledgeable. “To say that the quality of Dr George's teaching was 'sub-par' would be an insult to us graduates who had the honour of learning from him,” said Zhang.

“As someone who has worked with Dr George for close to two decades, I am dumbfounded by the news. I don't know of many professors in NTU who give as much to the students, even fewer who have clear vision of how a great journalism department in an university can be and should be,” said WKWSCI photojournalism lecturer Tay Kay Chin in a post on Facebook.

George declined comment when approached by Yahoo! Singapore.

When contacted by Yahoo! Singapore, an NTU spokesperson said the institution will issue a statement Tuesday.

Last year, the issue of academic freedom was raised in relation to the launch of the Yale-NUS College, a partnership with Yale University and the National University of Singapore (NUS). Yale members passed a resolution expressing their concern restriction of civil liberties in Singapore.

- wong chee tat :)

Singapore Budget Speech 2013 roundup

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam bared Monday a government budget for the fiscal year starting April that he said aimed to ensure Singapore could achieve quality yet inclusive growth.

In a nearly two-hour speech, he detailed plans to make the tax system more progressive and further increase subsidies for lower-income and elderly workers in order to help improve social mobility.

He also disclosed measures to mitigate the country's reliance on foreign labour and to improve productivity.

Also, for fiscal year 2013, he projected that government would post a surplus of $2.4 billion equivalent to 0.7 per cent of GDP. for the current fiscal year, he estimated a surplus of $3.9 billion.

The speech comes amid public discontent over rising living costs and strains on infrastructure which many Singaporeans have blamed on the influx of immigrants over the past several years.

Here are the main highlights:

Tax changes

Individual taxpayers below the age of 60 will get a 30 per cent tax rebate capped at $1,500 for income earned in 2012. Those aged 60 and above will get a rebate of 50 per cent but also capped at $1,500.

To help household with cost of living, government will also provide an extra one-off GST voucher this year on top of the permanent GST voucher.

Investment holding companies and property development firms incorporated after Monday, the day of the budget speech, will be excluded from exemption from start-up tax as they are not intended target for government's programmes to encourage entrepreneurship.

Tobacco excise duties will be raised. From $239 per kilogram, the duties for beedies, ang hoon and smokeless tobacco will be increased by 25 per cent to $299 per kilogram, while the duty for unmanufactured tobacco will go up by 1.5 per cent from $347 per kilogram to $352 per kilogram.

Property tax system would be changed to place a bigger burden on owners of high-end residential properties, especially those for investment purposes.

Taxes for luxury cars were also raised. Vehicles with an open market value of above $50,000 will have an additional registration fee of 180 per cent.

A one-year road tax rebate of 30 percent for goods vehicles, buses and taxis will take effect from July 2013.

Foreign worker curbs
Ministry of Manpower will continue to tighten eligibility for employment pass holders, said Tharman.

Minimum S Pass qualifying monthly salary will be increased from $2,000 to $2.200 from 1 July this year.

Dependency ratio ceilings will be cut. DRC in services will be cut from 45 per cent to 40 per cent.

In construction, levy rates for less skilled Work Permit Holders in Construction Sector will increase by $150 between Jul 2013 and Jul 2015

Health subsidies to be boosted.

Medifund will be increased by $1 billion to $4 billion and Eldercare to go up by a quarter million to $3 billion.

Government will expand senior mobility fund to cover a much wider range of devices such as hearing aids.

Band for zero property tax will be widened. Property tax for high-end investment residential properties will be raised.

Changes to CPF. Employer contribution rate will be restored fully.

He bares enhancements to Workfare scheme.

WIS payments will be raised. Workers will receive 40 per cent of WIS in cash as compared to 29 per cent.

Workfare will now cover workers earning up to $1,900 from $1,700 ceiling. This will benefit 480,000 workers or 30 per cent of the workforce.

An additional $72 million will be put into Opportunity Fund for students from less advantaged backgrounds and will be extended to polytechnics. $300 million top-up to Edusave fund.

Government will more than double spending in pre-school sector to S$3 billion over next five years. It will expand capacity so pre-schools are closer to homes and bring more operators to the anchor operator scheme. Government will provide 16,000 additional places by 2017.

He talks about the need to address income inequality. He notes that older singaporeans make up 40 per cent of singapore workers in the lower income ladder.

EDB will set aside $500 million for next five years to develop new frontiers in manufacturing.

Government will introduce a land productivity grant, which will be provided to companies that intensify land use or relocate some operations to immediate region.

It will also link up SMEs with research institutions to look into solutions that will give the SMEs a competitive advantage.

Productivity incentives will be provided to further boost training. Government will also launch an SME talent programme.

On road tax, commercial vehicles will get a 30 per cent rebate.

He bares a three-year co-funding package under the Wage Credit Scheme.
The government will co-fund 40 per cent of wage increases to Singaporeans with gross monthly wage up to S$4,000.

WCS payouts will be paid out to employers automatically and annually over three years. No application needed. The scheme will cost government $3.6bn over 3 years.

He bares a new quality growth programme that will include:

Tightening of foreign worker policies through a targeted approach. All foreign worker levies will be increased 2014 and 2015.
Will introduce a special 3-year package to support companies.
Will help companies strengthen productivity through incentives.
Will develop capabilities to chart new frontiers in manufacturing and help companies seize opportunities in new growth industries in Asia.

The government can and will actively support all SMEs that are willing to upgrade. The restructuring of our economy must result in a dynamic and re-engergised SME sector, he said.

He says dependency ratio ceiling cuts will be made in sectors which are behind global productivity leaders. Levies will also be increased on industries most dependent on foreign workers.

"We will not increase levies for skilled workers. Most companies will not need to pay higher levies if they rely on skilled workers," he said.

Currently, foreign workforce makes up 33.6 per cent of Singapore's total work force.

Net inflow of 67,000 foreign workers in 2012, but most of the growth was in construction and the services sectors. In manufacturing there was in fact a slight decline, he said.

But in construction and retail, productivity is one-fifth below HK's.

He also cites greater strides in productivity. Three decades ago, he said Singapore's productivity level was 30 per cent of that of global leaders but now it is 70 per cent. It is now even greater than HK's.
He also bares greater investments for sports and culture.

Government will invest 30 per cent more in sports programmes over the next five years. The government will also create a fund to match investments for cultural programmes.

He announces enhancements to workfare.

Low wage worker will get a top up of his pay of 30%. This is in addition to what his employer will receive through new wage scheme that will encourage his employer to up the worker's pay.

Flexible working practices must be more important. We should also make it possible to give employees to be working from home or smart working centres near their homes. The government will help businesses in these efforts.

"If we do not do better in raising productivity... businesses and workers will be worse off.
We must help SMEs revitalise themselves," he says.

He notes that society is facing widening income disparity. "We must take further steps to temper inequality," he says. More must also be done to help seniors enter their retirement, he adds.
Our strategy for achieving higher quality of growth and an inclusive society are bound together, he says.

While fixing these problems, Singapore has to shift gears for an economy and society in transition.

He notes that there are pressing challenges on housing and transport.

The budget will introduce further measures to support our workers, especially lower-income workers.

Our budget for 2012 is expected to have a surplus. We expected S$1.3 billion but we now expect the higher surplus of S$3.9 billion due to higher revenues from stamp duties.

He maintains that Singapore's economic growth will likely range between 1 per cent to 3 per cent this year.

- wong chee tat :)

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