Source : The Business Times, September 16, 2008
SME Inc
PRO-ENTERPRISE CHANGES
LICENSING schemes for small-scale business at home and the use of telecommunications equipment have been more hassle-free, as the government moves to extend the tenure period under both regulations.
For example, the Housing Development Board has changed the approval period of all new and renewal applications under the Home Office Scheme (HOS) from three years to five years, even though the administrative fee has been kept at $20.
HOS allows budding entrepreneurs conduct small-scale business from HDB and private residential property. More than than 20,600 applications have been approved so far - most of them for IT consultancy, web design, real estate services and advertising.
HDB agency changed the approval periods to provide greater convenience to home office operators, such as allowing them leeway to formulate longer-term business plans.
HDB's deputy director of branch operations Foo-Ho Yoke Ming says the benefits have of HOS been manifold. 'Besides saving on rental of office space and enjoying lower start-up costs, users also save on travelling time and expenses to and from home and office. They also get to work from the comfort of their homes and spend more time with their families.'
HOS has drawn 19,000 applications so far from HDB flat owners. 'The feedback has been very positive,' says Mrs Foo-Ho. 'Some HO users have expanded beyond the scope of the Scheme and moved on to formal business premises. HDB will continue to work with home office users, listen to their feedback and see how much further the scheme can be taken while maintaining the residential character and amenities of our housing estates.'
Mr Kenneth Yeo, of home-run business COADXIST, says of the latest change: 'It shows that the government is supporting and encouraging the local business community.'
In a similar vein, the licence period for operating radio-communications equipment on board Singapore ships and aircraft has been extended from one year to five years at a revised fee of $100, up from $50 per annum previously.
According to the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), frequency spectrum resources under the licensing scheme are fixed internationally and restricted to ship and aircraft use. which requires minimal intervention by IDA. Hence, improvements could be made to the licensing process. Besides the extended licence period, a licence can now be transferred when a ship or aircraft is sold.
Audrey Lee, director, competition and market access at IDA, says: 'IDA reviews its rules regularly to ensure that where possible, licensing processes are simplified and streamlined. Such reviews will keep our licensing schemes robust yet adaptable to the market.
The Pro-Enterprise Panel was set up in 2000 to solicit feedback from businesses on how government rules and regulations can be improved to create a more pro-enterprise environment. The PEP is chaired by Civil Service Head Peter Ho and consists of mainly private-sector business leaders.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Britain Faces Shallow Recession In H2
Source : The Business Times, September 16, 2008
(LONDON) Britain is heading for a shallow recession in the second half of this year and next year's economic growth will be the weakest since 1992, the Confederation of British Industry said yesterday.
Slowdown: The CBI cut its growth forecast for this year to 1.1% from 1.7% and slashed its 2009 forecast to 0.3% growth from 1.3%
The CBI cut its growth forecast for this year to 1.1 per cent from 1.7 per cent and slashed its 2009 forecast to 0.3 per cent growth from 1.3 per cent, urging the Bank of England (BOE) to cut interest rates to 4.5 per cent from 5 per cent in November.
The CBI expects GDP to contract 0.2 per cent on the quarter in the three months between July and September and 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter, with contraction spilling over into next year before the economy starts to recover.
'Having experienced a rapid loss of momentum in the economy over the first half of 2008, the UK may have entered a mild recession that will hopefully prove short lived,' the CBI's director-general, Richard Lambert said.
'This is not a return to the 1990s, when job cuts and a slump in demand were far more prolonged. Although the credit crunch will be with us for some time, conditions are set to improve later in 2009. The bank should have leeway to cut interest rates.'
Easing commodity prices and a weaker economy mean that inflation will fall back quite rapidly over 2009 and near the BOE's 2 per cent target in the fourth quarter of 2009 after peaking at around 4.8 per cent this year, the CBI said.
Inflation could then undershoot the Bank of England's target in 2010, making room for rates to be cut to 4 per cent by next spring, it said.
'The Bank of England's hands have been tied in recent months by the relentless rise in inflation,' said Ian McCafferty, CBI chief economic adviser.
'But with oil prices heading lower, very weak economic activity for a number of quarters, and little evidence of wage pressure, interest rates cuts will soon be justified,' Mr McCafferty said.
The CBI forecasts showed unemployment breaching the 2 million mark in 2009, with a jobless rate of about 6.5 per cent. -- Reuters
(LONDON) Britain is heading for a shallow recession in the second half of this year and next year's economic growth will be the weakest since 1992, the Confederation of British Industry said yesterday.
Slowdown: The CBI cut its growth forecast for this year to 1.1% from 1.7% and slashed its 2009 forecast to 0.3% growth from 1.3%The CBI cut its growth forecast for this year to 1.1 per cent from 1.7 per cent and slashed its 2009 forecast to 0.3 per cent growth from 1.3 per cent, urging the Bank of England (BOE) to cut interest rates to 4.5 per cent from 5 per cent in November.
The CBI expects GDP to contract 0.2 per cent on the quarter in the three months between July and September and 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter, with contraction spilling over into next year before the economy starts to recover.
'Having experienced a rapid loss of momentum in the economy over the first half of 2008, the UK may have entered a mild recession that will hopefully prove short lived,' the CBI's director-general, Richard Lambert said.
'This is not a return to the 1990s, when job cuts and a slump in demand were far more prolonged. Although the credit crunch will be with us for some time, conditions are set to improve later in 2009. The bank should have leeway to cut interest rates.'
Easing commodity prices and a weaker economy mean that inflation will fall back quite rapidly over 2009 and near the BOE's 2 per cent target in the fourth quarter of 2009 after peaking at around 4.8 per cent this year, the CBI said.
Inflation could then undershoot the Bank of England's target in 2010, making room for rates to be cut to 4 per cent by next spring, it said.
'The Bank of England's hands have been tied in recent months by the relentless rise in inflation,' said Ian McCafferty, CBI chief economic adviser.
'But with oil prices heading lower, very weak economic activity for a number of quarters, and little evidence of wage pressure, interest rates cuts will soon be justified,' Mr McCafferty said.
The CBI forecasts showed unemployment breaching the 2 million mark in 2009, with a jobless rate of about 6.5 per cent. -- Reuters
CapitaLand's One-North Investment Costs More
Source : The Business Times, September 16, 2008
It cites construction costs; projected return still on track
CAPITALAND yesterday said that its investment in one-north hub will now cost $476.8 million - up from $380 million announced in September 2007 - because of rising construction costs.
CapitaLand will own and manage a retail and entertainment zone called the hub at Vista Xchange at JTC's one-north.
Partner New Creation Church's Rock Productions, which will own and manage a civic and cultural zone, will invest $499.5 million in that project - up from $280 million announced last year.
Rock's increase is partly due to a planned increase in gross floor area (GFA) at the civic and cultural zone.
The zone will now have a GFA of 38,000 square metres, up from 'over 30,000' sq m announced previously.
The new investment figures mean that the hub will now cost $976.3 million, up from $660 million announced in September 2007.
CapitaLand and Rock yesterday said that they have awarded a $633 million contract for construction of the hub to Hexacon Construction Pte Ltd.
The project is expected to be completed by mid-2012.
CapitaLand said that despite the higher cost, its projected return will remain the same.
'We have enhanced our asset plan and are thus still able to achieve our target rate of return,' a spokesman told BT.
Shares of CapitaLand, Singapore's largest developer, continued to take a beating yesterday on various concerns - news of the increased investment, worry over the developer's exposure to China and a plunge in the Singapore stock market.
CapitaLand lost as much as 28 cents or 6.5 per cent. It ended the day 26 cents down at a one-year low of $4.03.
Like other developers, CapitaLand has seen its stock price sink as warnings about China's property market emerged over the past few weeks.
China's market could be headed for a 'meltdown' as home prices and sales slump, Morgan Stanley analysts said on Sept 12.
Developers including China Vanke, the nation's biggest publicly traded real estate developer, and Poly Real Estate Group have reported falling sales amid government lending curbs.
'Investors are a bit jittery about the forecasts,' CIMB property analyst Donald Chua said yesterday.
CapitaLand's shares have fallen 8 per cent since end-August, while Keppel Land's stock has fallen 16.2 per cent in the same period.
Keppel Land lost as much as 28 cents or 8.1 per cent yesterday. The stock closed 19 cents down at $3.25 - also a 52-week low.
It cites construction costs; projected return still on track
CAPITALAND yesterday said that its investment in one-north hub will now cost $476.8 million - up from $380 million announced in September 2007 - because of rising construction costs.
CapitaLand will own and manage a retail and entertainment zone called the hub at Vista Xchange at JTC's one-north.
Partner New Creation Church's Rock Productions, which will own and manage a civic and cultural zone, will invest $499.5 million in that project - up from $280 million announced last year.
Rock's increase is partly due to a planned increase in gross floor area (GFA) at the civic and cultural zone.
The zone will now have a GFA of 38,000 square metres, up from 'over 30,000' sq m announced previously.
The new investment figures mean that the hub will now cost $976.3 million, up from $660 million announced in September 2007.
CapitaLand and Rock yesterday said that they have awarded a $633 million contract for construction of the hub to Hexacon Construction Pte Ltd.
The project is expected to be completed by mid-2012.
CapitaLand said that despite the higher cost, its projected return will remain the same.
'We have enhanced our asset plan and are thus still able to achieve our target rate of return,' a spokesman told BT.
Shares of CapitaLand, Singapore's largest developer, continued to take a beating yesterday on various concerns - news of the increased investment, worry over the developer's exposure to China and a plunge in the Singapore stock market.
CapitaLand lost as much as 28 cents or 6.5 per cent. It ended the day 26 cents down at a one-year low of $4.03.
Like other developers, CapitaLand has seen its stock price sink as warnings about China's property market emerged over the past few weeks.
China's market could be headed for a 'meltdown' as home prices and sales slump, Morgan Stanley analysts said on Sept 12.
Developers including China Vanke, the nation's biggest publicly traded real estate developer, and Poly Real Estate Group have reported falling sales amid government lending curbs.
'Investors are a bit jittery about the forecasts,' CIMB property analyst Donald Chua said yesterday.
CapitaLand's shares have fallen 8 per cent since end-August, while Keppel Land's stock has fallen 16.2 per cent in the same period.
Keppel Land lost as much as 28 cents or 8.1 per cent yesterday. The stock closed 19 cents down at $3.25 - also a 52-week low.
China's August Property Prices Rise 5.3%
Source : The Business Times, September 16, 2008
BEIJING - China's urban property prices in August rose 5.3 per cent from a year earlier, down from a rise of 7.0 per cent in July, extending a trend of sagging property inflation that began early this year.
Average property prices across 70 large- and medium-sized cities dropped 0.1 per cent in August compared with July, the National Development and Reform Commission said on its website on Tuesday.
It compiles the figures together with the National Bureau of Statistics.
Price rises in some cities remain steep, while a couple top cities showed declines.
Average housing prices in Beijing in August were still 8.9 per cent higher than a year earlier. The annual property price rise in Hefei, capital of the Anhui province, was even higher, at 9.7 per cent.
Prices grew the fastest in Haikou, capital of China's most southern province, at an annual pace of 11.4 per cent.
The southern cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou were the only cities to experience price declines, of 6.4 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively. -- REUTERS
BEIJING - China's urban property prices in August rose 5.3 per cent from a year earlier, down from a rise of 7.0 per cent in July, extending a trend of sagging property inflation that began early this year.
Average property prices across 70 large- and medium-sized cities dropped 0.1 per cent in August compared with July, the National Development and Reform Commission said on its website on Tuesday.
It compiles the figures together with the National Bureau of Statistics.
Price rises in some cities remain steep, while a couple top cities showed declines.
Average housing prices in Beijing in August were still 8.9 per cent higher than a year earlier. The annual property price rise in Hefei, capital of the Anhui province, was even higher, at 9.7 per cent.
Prices grew the fastest in Haikou, capital of China's most southern province, at an annual pace of 11.4 per cent.
The southern cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou were the only cities to experience price declines, of 6.4 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively. -- REUTERS
Restored Katong House Wins Unesco Award
Source : The Business Times, September 16, 2008
Project shows good conservation with innovative solutions for additional space
A RESTORED house at 733 Mountbatten Road built in the 1920s has been recognised with a Unesco award for innovation.
Village living: Built in the 1920s and restored with an extension, 733 Mountbatten Road is the first residential property here to receive the Unesco Asia-Pacific Heritage Award
It is the first residential property here to receive such an honour - the 2008 Unesco Asia-Pacific Heritage Award for Culture Heritage Conservation Jury Commendation for Innovation.
The house, the family residence of the Ang family, was restored with an extension added by Ang Gin Wah of Gin + Design Workshop.
In its citation, the jury, comprising 12 international experts, said that the contemporary addition to 733 Mountbatten Road had successfully added floor space while retaining and conserving the original building. The spatial arrangement and the massing of the new building in relation to the historic bungalow also creates an appropriate 'balance between the old and new'.
Balance of old and new: The original main house was conserved in totality. The interface between the old house and the new extensions were fused with glass to create 'a dialogue between the two'. Photos show two interior views
'This project, which demonstrates good conservation practice in combination with innovative solutions for providing additional space, sets a worthy model for re-use of heritage buildings in Singapore,' it added.
Mr Ang, who has an honours degree in architecture from Curtin University of Technology, Australia, reveals that the process of conservation and addition took almost three-and-a- half years to complete.
His parents had acquired the house in 1999 and wanted to build a multi-generational home consisting of three separate wings and a common family wing.
Photos show two interior views
Mr Ang said that the concept of 'village living' was the basis for the restoration.
'During the design process, it was decided that the added new wings would not mimic the main house in style as this would detract from the value of the old architectural fabric,' he said.
Instead, the new additions were sensitively designed with contemporary elements to 'create a degree of harmony'.
The original main house was conserved in totality. The interface between the old house and the new extensions were 'fused' with glass to create 'a dialogue between the two'.
The main house was left for many years in neglect. Initial visual inspections revealed structural cracks on the main beams supporting the timber floors and the walls. These were then pressure grouted to improve the structural strength.
All timber windows, doors and louvre panels were painstakingly dismantled piece by piece, labelled and stripped of the old paint then sanded before re-assembly. Mr Ang said that each window had about 40 parts.
The coloured glass panels at the windows were removed and washed before re-assembly. Broken panes were replaced with glass specially sourced in Australia, as these were not available locally. An addition of a non-static acrylic strip was discreetly installed between the louvres of the window panels to reduce heat load in the event air-conditioning is used.
The architectural elements that could not be restored or replaced were ingeniously recreated. This included decorative plaster elements from the capitals of the Corinthian columns of the porte cochere which had broken off decades ago.
To restore the broken fragments of the capital, Mr Ang made plaster moulds of the existing capitals and recast fragments that were missing.
'With careful planning and strategies, such as maximum retention, recruiting and training tradesmen and craftsmen locally, we managed to not only reduce cost but also preserve a part of history,' says Mr Ang with much satisfaction.
733 Mountbatten Road was one of 45 entries from 13 countries received for the Unesco award.
The top three Awards of Distinction went to: the National Pass in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia; the Fujian Earth Buildings in Fujian Province, China; and Suffolk House in Penang, Malaysia.
In Singapore, Chijmes, the former Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, received the 2002 Unesco Asia-Pacific Heritage Conservation Merit Award.
Project shows good conservation with innovative solutions for additional space
A RESTORED house at 733 Mountbatten Road built in the 1920s has been recognised with a Unesco award for innovation.
Village living: Built in the 1920s and restored with an extension, 733 Mountbatten Road is the first residential property here to receive the Unesco Asia-Pacific Heritage AwardIt is the first residential property here to receive such an honour - the 2008 Unesco Asia-Pacific Heritage Award for Culture Heritage Conservation Jury Commendation for Innovation.
The house, the family residence of the Ang family, was restored with an extension added by Ang Gin Wah of Gin + Design Workshop.
In its citation, the jury, comprising 12 international experts, said that the contemporary addition to 733 Mountbatten Road had successfully added floor space while retaining and conserving the original building. The spatial arrangement and the massing of the new building in relation to the historic bungalow also creates an appropriate 'balance between the old and new'.
Balance of old and new: The original main house was conserved in totality. The interface between the old house and the new extensions were fused with glass to create 'a dialogue between the two'. Photos show two interior views 'This project, which demonstrates good conservation practice in combination with innovative solutions for providing additional space, sets a worthy model for re-use of heritage buildings in Singapore,' it added.
Mr Ang, who has an honours degree in architecture from Curtin University of Technology, Australia, reveals that the process of conservation and addition took almost three-and-a- half years to complete.
His parents had acquired the house in 1999 and wanted to build a multi-generational home consisting of three separate wings and a common family wing.
Photos show two interior viewsMr Ang said that the concept of 'village living' was the basis for the restoration.
'During the design process, it was decided that the added new wings would not mimic the main house in style as this would detract from the value of the old architectural fabric,' he said.
Instead, the new additions were sensitively designed with contemporary elements to 'create a degree of harmony'.
The original main house was conserved in totality. The interface between the old house and the new extensions were 'fused' with glass to create 'a dialogue between the two'.
The main house was left for many years in neglect. Initial visual inspections revealed structural cracks on the main beams supporting the timber floors and the walls. These were then pressure grouted to improve the structural strength.
All timber windows, doors and louvre panels were painstakingly dismantled piece by piece, labelled and stripped of the old paint then sanded before re-assembly. Mr Ang said that each window had about 40 parts.
The coloured glass panels at the windows were removed and washed before re-assembly. Broken panes were replaced with glass specially sourced in Australia, as these were not available locally. An addition of a non-static acrylic strip was discreetly installed between the louvres of the window panels to reduce heat load in the event air-conditioning is used.
The architectural elements that could not be restored or replaced were ingeniously recreated. This included decorative plaster elements from the capitals of the Corinthian columns of the porte cochere which had broken off decades ago.
To restore the broken fragments of the capital, Mr Ang made plaster moulds of the existing capitals and recast fragments that were missing.
'With careful planning and strategies, such as maximum retention, recruiting and training tradesmen and craftsmen locally, we managed to not only reduce cost but also preserve a part of history,' says Mr Ang with much satisfaction.
733 Mountbatten Road was one of 45 entries from 13 countries received for the Unesco award.
The top three Awards of Distinction went to: the National Pass in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia; the Fujian Earth Buildings in Fujian Province, China; and Suffolk House in Penang, Malaysia.
In Singapore, Chijmes, the former Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, received the 2002 Unesco Asia-Pacific Heritage Conservation Merit Award.
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