A Housing & Development Board (HDB) site that was deferred for public tender last December has now been launched for sale.

HDB on Monday put up the mixed commercial and residential site at Upper Serangoon Road for sale under the confirmed list of the government land sales (GLS) programme.

As part of the development of Bidadari estate, the 99-year leasehold site was deferred to allow the site requirements to be finalised for “comprehensive development”.

HDB said that this was mainly to straighten out details for the requirements to build a community club and a neighbourhood police centre to be integrated with the development.

These are new criteria and therefore needed time to be clarified. There are also criteria to build a commercial bridge and underpass for connectivity purposes.

In addition, the successful tenderer is also “strongly encouraged” to work with the tenants and operators of the shops, restaurants and entertainment outlets to adopt productive formats suggested by Spring Singapore to raise the productivity of its food services and retail outlets.

These include having a central kitchen and central dishwashing, and installing meal replacement vending machines, among other initiatives.

When the deferment of the site was announced just two days to the end of the year, some consultants correctly guessed that it could be because the government may require the developer to build certain facilities to serve the residents, but they thought it could have been a childcare centre or public library.

At the time, they noted that it was rare for the authorities to defer the tender of a site so close to its launch date. There have been previous deferments of the launch of GLS sites, though they are few and far between.

Consultants have called this a “choice” site, given its location next to Woodleigh MRT Station and buyers’ attraction to Bidadari as a residential locality.

The plot has an area of 25,440.8 square metres, which can yield a maximum gross floor area of 89,043 sq m (or 958,450 square feet). It can yield about 825 housing units. The tender will close at noon on June 13, 2017.

JLL national director Ong Teck Hui noted that Bidadari has the makings of a new prime city-fringe sub-market, “so the subject site is in a highly desired location and being next to Woodleigh MRT Station, it will be a strong draw for home buyers as well as tenants of commercial units”.

“The only deterrent to interested parties would be the high absolute land price as the development quantum is close to a million square feet,” he added.

The top bid could be S$800-900 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), so the absolute land price could range from S$766-863 million, said Mr Ong. He expects seven to 10 bids.

SLP International executive director Nicholas Mak envisages around eight to 16 bids with the highest offer coming in at S$710-750 psf ppr – translating to an absolute land price of S$680.5 million to S$719 million.

“Presently, this is the only mixed commercial and residential site next to the Woodleigh MRT Station available for sale.

The future shopping centre on this site should attract a high number of residents from the Bidadari Estate. It would also enjoy the first-mover advantage as the first shopping centre in the Bidadari Estate,” said Mr Mak.

This is probably the first time that the government has required the developer of a GLS site to build a neighbourhood police centre within the development for the government, he added.

leemx@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Mar 07, 2017.
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Six orchestra groups will be heading to the heartlands to perform a series of free concerts from March to Dec.

The concerts, which are part of the 12th SPH Gift of Music concert series, will be performed at different locations across Singapore, such as parks, heartlands, shoppping malls, concert halls and the Esplanade.

Notable orchestra groups that will be putting up the performances are Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO), Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO), Singapore Lyric Opera (SLO), The Philharmonic Winds, Singapore Wind Symphony and Ding Yi Music Company.

Kicking off the series will be two SSO concerts this month, starting with the SSO Lunchtime Concert at Victoria Concert Hall on March 9 and SSO @ Gardens by the Bay on March 11.

The lunchtime concert on March 9 will feature classical favourites such as Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Overture and Rossini’s La Cenerentola Overture, as well as music from the iconic Star Wars movies.

On March 11, SSO will return with more popular classics, including Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain and music from the movie Jurassic Park by legendary composer John Williams.

Both concerts will be conducted by SSO’s Associate Conductor Joshua Tan.

The first heartland community concert will be at Telok Blangah on April 29.

Another popular concert, Opera in the Park by SLO, will return on June 17 at Singapore Botanic Gardens. This year’s programme will feature the winners of the SLO-ASEAN Vocal Competition in 2016. They will perform a programme of operatic classics at the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

SPH Gift of Music will also bring back two well attended festivals, namely Pesta Raya – Malay Festival of Arts (July 20-23) and Kalaa Utsavam – Indian Festival of Arts (Nov 17-26) at the Esplanade, which will feature an exciting selection of classical to contemporary performances by Malay and Indian artistes in Singapore and the region.

Other highlights this year include The Straits Times Concert in the Park at Singapore Botanic Gardens by SSO (July 22), Singapore Wind Symphony Youth Winds @ Paragon (April 23) and community concerts by The Philharmonic Winds and Ding Yi Music Company later this year.

SPH Gift of Music was first launched on 1 May 2005 as a musical gift to the nation with a concert by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra at Singapore Botanic Gardens. Since then, it has gained popularity and helped many local musicians showcase their talent and expand their reach.

klim@sph.com.sg

Singapore Post (SingPost) has lost a top executive linked to its key e-commerce division.

It said on Monday that Marcelo Wesseler has resigned as chief executive officer (CEO) of SP Commerce.

SP Commerce is the integrated entity of SingPost’s former e-commerce division SingPost eCommerce with US-based e-commerce provider TradeGlobal Holdings and the company’s US unit Jagged Peak Inc. E-commerce-related revenues now make up half of the group’s revenue.

Paul Demirdjian, currently the president and CEO of Jagged Peak, has been appointed interim CEO of the US businesses with immediate effect. He will oversee the group’s businesses in the United States.

Mr Wesseler will assist the company to ensure a transition of duties during his period of notice until June 5, 2017.

Following the integration of the two US businesses, SP Commerce was to expand its e-commerce logistics footprint in the US, the largest retail market in the world.

In a press statement in 2016, the company said SP Commerce was “connecting the dots in building a global e-commerce logistics solution and a unique ability to provide access to China and the rest of Asia Pacific markets”.

But SingPost had in February flagged the risk of a “significant” impairment to the carrying value of TradeGlobal on the back of a feeble showing.

The warning came as third-quarter net profit attributable to equity-holders fell 27.9 per cent to S$31.4 million while underlying net profit was down 28.5 per cent at S$31.4 million.

The declines were due to operating losses in the US e-commerce business, costs related to the new regional e-commerce logistics hub and a fall in domestic mail volumes.

In particular, one of TradeGlobal’s largest customers faced financial difficulties, and SingPost said it reduced business with it as part of risk mitigation.

That customer has since filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. Another key TradeGlobal customer had also decided to in-source its e-commerce freight operations.

TradeGlobal incurred a significant loss instead of a projected profit in the third quarter peak season and it is expected to make a loss for the full year, said SingPost in February.

The business is being restructured to improve its performance. It added that that for the nine months ended December 31, 2016, TradeGlobal has not achieved the underlying profit assumptions of the business plan that supported the investment.

Explaining this, SingPost said: “The e-commerce segment operates in an environment where margins are under pressure amid intense competition and changing consumer behaviour.

The group is facing challenges in the operating environment in the US.”

Shares of SingPost closed unchanged at S$1.38 on Monday before the announcement. Some 4.5 million shares changed hands.

leejamie@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Mar 07, 2017.
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Net employment growth has slowed sharply from more than 200,000 before the 2009 financial crisis to around 33,000 jobs yearly, on the back of business uncertainty and low births and an aging population.

Manpower minister Lim Swee Say told Parliament on Monday, during the Committee of Supply debate on the budget for the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), that his ministry is working on four key strategies to not only ensure that there would be enough jobs for Singaporeans, but better ones as well.

Responding to questions from backbenchers on job prospects at a time of slower economic growth and disruptions caused by technology, he identified the four key thrusts as ensuring quality job creation, raising workforce adaptability, enhancing inclusiveness and complementarity, and building fair and progressive workplaces.

Ensuring quality job creation: The focus here is to create enough good jobs for everyone, he said, and added that Singapore should not waste time worrying about technology killing jobs; technology should instead be harnessed as a partner in job creation.

Mr Lim said: “The real threat we face in the competition for jobs is not technology, but global competition.

“We should focus more on how to partner with technology to take away customers and jobs from our competitors before they do it to us.”

This is the ambit of the Lean Enterprise Development Scheme (LEDS), which MOM launched over a year ago. LEDS brings together various agencies to offer a one-stop service to make it easier for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to ramp up their business capability and gain access to labour and markets; where necessary, LEDS is even prepared to relax the foreign-work quota temporarily to expedite matters for these SMEs.

Mr Lim said LEDS’s scope will be strengthened this year, with new programmes introduced. It will help more SMEs go digital and expand overseas, and speed up the development and deployment of “cluster” solutions for firms; it will work closely with sectors to tackle the manpower shortage as well.

The minister said creating quality jobs can prevent rising unemployment and under-employment, but structural unemployment – the result of mismatches in the labour market – still exists.

This is where workforce adaptability comes in.

Raising workforce adaptability: Mr Lim said MOM will make better use of technology to help job-seekers and employers find each other. The national jobs bank has been made more user-friendly to provide better search functions.

The next big move is to transform it into a “one-stop, non-stop online marketplace” for various groups of job-seekers.

He said: “We will link up the Online Marketplace with the Individual Learning Portfolio portal to be launched, so that we can provide seamless access between the two.

These major enhancements will be rolled out progressively this year.”

Channels of job-matching services will also be expanded through closer collaboration with private-sector employment agencies; Mr Lim said MOM has found two partners which have experience working with government agencies in the UK and Australia.

He said they were selected because of their business focus on active job seekers (people looking for jobs), not passive job seekers.

“We will partner them to help place PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) who have been made redundant and those unemployed for three months or more.”

The new partnership will debut in the second quarter of the year.

The minister said MOM will boost the Adapt & Grow initiative, which was introduced last year to help PMETs, who make up the bulk of workers in the workforce.

The Professional Conversion Programme, also launched last year to help this group of workers to switch careers and move into growth sectors, will receive enhanced salary support.

An “Attach and Train” scheme, which offers training allowance and attachment in companies in growth sectors, will be introduced to help PMETs prepare for new jobs in another sector. MOM is looking to start it in the logistics sector.

Enhancing inclusiveness and complementarity: The slowdown in job and workforce growth makes each worker even more valuable, said the minister.

“We (thus) need to strengthen the inclusiveness of our local workforce and to strengthen our socal cohesion.”

He said the local and foreign workforce must complement each other better to sharpen Singapore’s competitive edge.

Because Singapore can never be self-sufficient, foreign workers will be a “permanent feature” here. But they must complement us rather than compete against us, he said. This way, foreign workers will help narrow the talent gap and create more good jobs for Singaporeans.

Mr Lim warned that MOM will take action against employers who discriminate against local workers in hiring.

The number of these bosses put on the Fair Consideration Framework watch-list stood at 250 as at the end of last month, but many have improved and adopted “fair and progressive practices”, he said.

There are still 50 employers on the list who have not been receptive or cooperative; MOM has rejected more than 500 Employment Pass applications from them, said Mr Lim.

Building fair and progressive workplaces: The minister said the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) and the Employment Claims Tribunals (ECT) will open as scheduled on April 1.

He described them as “major steps forward in strengthening our employment protection framework”.

Mr Lim said Tripartite Standards will also be introduced to complement existing employment laws and Tripartite guidelines to push for progressive practices at the workplace.

peckming@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Mar 07, 2017.
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Last year, this “International Number Ones” map hailed Singapore as having the world’s “Healthiest People”. Although we (surprisingly) did not manage to claim the namesake of “Best at Mathematics and Sciences”, the financial burden that comes with owning a car made me feel that we probably should have been #1 at “Car Costs”.

According to financial literacy site DollarsandSense, there are many factors compounding car costs in Singapore, from the vehicle’s open market value to the infamous COE.

We spoke to 10 Singaporean drivers to get more insights on how they manage these costs. Our savvy drivers range from their early twenties to forties, with more than a year’s experience behind the wheel. Their vehicles include a Kia Koup, Mercedes C180, Honda Jazz and Honda Airwave.

Singaporean drivers spend $200 a month on average on petrol

While the average monthly fuel spend is approximately $200, our drivers claim the figure can range between $80 to $800, depending on the intensity and frequency of driving. Factor in running costs such as road tax, insurance, service and repair, ERP and parking, and the amount spent on cars can easily shoot up another few hundred.

As a non-driver, these numbers gave me a good insight into the costs of car ownership here. Fortunately, our drivers have some street-smart tips to share on ow they save money along the way.

Read also: No nonsense explanation on why cars in Singapore are so expensive

Tip 1 – Learn to do your own maintenance

Find yourself frequently surprised by warning lights flashing on the dashboard?

Regular maintenance is crucial to extending the vehicle life and avoiding hefty repairs down the road. Always refer to the owner’s manual for recommended service schedules (by experts), tyre pressure, and optimal petrol grades to ensure you’re getting what your car needs.

One resourceful driver relies on simple self-maintenance to help keep workshop visits more affordable. More skilled than the average motorist, he changes blown headlight bulbs and tackles new air filter installations on his own, guided by car manual instructions. These ad-hoc tasks may help you to accumulate savings towards the occasional good meal out, but should definitely be approached with caution. When in doubt, leave it to the experts.

Washing and vacuuming your own car was another practical tip, helping you save at least $11 each time. However, if this doesn’t quite rev your engine, industry experts suggest looking out for promotions at nearby service stations which offer professional washes at discounted rates, or through loyalty point redemptions.

Tip 2 – Don’t buy (useless) trinkets

We all know that one person who decks out their rides with things showcasing their individuality. The unnecessary weight not only impacts your ride’s fuel efficiency, but can also come at a darker cost.

One driver shares how his parents have a passion for miniature soft toys on the dashboard. These became a safety hazard during a hard braking episode, when one or two offenders found their way near the gas pedal – increasing the chances of frightening consequences in an emergency.

Lesson: leave the assassin bunny on the store shelf.

Tip 3 – Pooling your ride

With the rise of third-party private car services like Grab and Uber, drivers interested in turning a quick buck can consider joining carpool services along their travel routes. One surveyed driver dabbled in carpooling services a while back, earning about a hundred dollars extra a week.

If rider horror stories are leaving you less enthused about becoming a carpool driver, updated sharing options may change your mind.

Tip 4 – Cards and gas station memberships

Our drivers fuelled-up across various oil company brands. Their go-to tip was pairing loyalty cards with credit card deals for maximised savings.

For example, 3 drivers use credit cards such as OCBC 365 at Caltex service stations for attractive fuel savings. One appreciates how pairing fuel purchases with a Plus! loyalty card gave her the added flexibility to use LinkPoint rebates for grocery shopping or future Caltex fuel purchases.

Caltex’s partnership with Plus! also helps motorists stretch their dollar by accumulating LinkPoints from fuel and non-fuel purchases alike towards savings on petrol, Caltex car washes, daily necessities, travel and dining.

Interestingly, one driver notes that such loyalty card pairings also contributed towards more affordable premium fuels. As such, higher-end cars didn’t necessarily require a pricier tag for quality fuels. Only one driver plays it safe with numerous loyalty cards, and likely, various credit cards. Always handy.

Driving doesn’t need to be that expensive

Managing car costs in Singapore need not be a pricey habit… well, maybe not that pricey.

Although I would certainly not be jumping at the chance to get a car of my own just to take advantage of these cost-saving tips, there is always something to learn about reducing costs no matter your level of driving experience.

What are some of your money-saving tips as a driver? Let us know!

Read also: Most underestimate costs of owning a car

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