More motorists are shelving plans for a new car, opting to renew the certificates of entitlement (COEs) instead when their cars hit the 10-year mark.

Industry observers say this is down to a variety of factors, including high COE prices and the uncertain economic climate.

In the first 10 months of this year, owners renewed the COEs for 24,050 cars, according to figures provided by the Land Transport Authority yesterday.

That is about one in four (27.2 per cent) of the 88,357 cars due to be deregistered and eligible for COE revalidation.

In the same period last year, only about 11.7 per cent of such cars had their 10-year COEs renewed.

Under Singapore’s vehicle quota system, a new car is bought with a COE that is valid for 10 years. After that period, car owners can either opt to deregister their vehicles, or renew their COEs and continue driving them.

They can renew their COEs by paying the prevailing quota premium (PQP) – an average of a COE premium over three months – for another 10 years. They can also opt to pay half the amount for a COE renewal of five years.

“Many of the owners who bought cars in the mid-2000s, during the COE boom period, may not be able to afford to get into a car today because the COE prices are higher now,” said SIM University economist Walter Theseira.

“Some people may be able to scrape together the money to pay for half of the PQP, but not for the down payment for a new car,” he added.

In 2006, COEs for small cars ranged between $8,000 and $13,000. The COE premium was $48,000 at the recent tender exercise that ended earlier this month.

Singapore Vehicle Traders Association first vice-president Raymond Tang said motorists may be waiting for a fall below the $40,000 mark before jumping in.

Dr Theseira said motorists then hang on to their cars as an interim measure.

Whether it is waiting for the right price or the uncertain economic climate, Mr Tang said that by not deregistering cars, fresh COE supply will shrink and this will keep COE prices high.

COE supply is mainly determined by deregistrations.

Motorists who renew their COEs forgo the car’s scrap rebate, which is called the Preferential Additional Registration Fee (Parf).

While the Parf varies according to the value of the car and its age at which it is deregistered, Mr Tang said: “Why not take back your $8,000 or $9,000, for example, and use this money to pay for a second-hand car?”

Businessman Ken Ong, 41, is one motorist who chose to renew his Nissan Sunny’s COE two years ago. “I paid about $33,000 for a five-year renewal. The COE price was high back then. Also, my car has been very reliable, with few problems,” he said.

This article was first published on Dec 21, 2016.
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For the first time, there is a clear indication of how many people with disabilities there are in different age groups.

The prevalence in the student population (aged seven to 18) is 2.1 per cent, and that in people aged 18 to 49 is 3.4 per cent.

The figure rises to 13.3 per cent for people aged 50 and above.

These were in the foreword of the report for the latest Enabling Masterplan, a national blueprint for disability services, for next year to 2021.

National Council of Social Service (NCSS) vice-president Anita Fam, who chaired the panel behind the blueprint, wrote in the foreword: “The steering committee was of the view that a detailed profiling of persons with disabilities in the country… was necessary for the effective planning and delivery of needed services in the disability sector today and in the future.”

The figure for the student po- pulation came from the Ministry of Education.

The others are based on a random sample of 2,000 Singapore residents aged 18 and above surveyed by NCSS last year.

They are self-reported prevalence rates, and include people who acquired disabilities due to accidents, illness or old age.

The previous Enabling Masterplan, for 2012 to this year, had the incidence – based on the use of services – for people aged below seven and those aged seven to 18.

It also had figures for people aged above 18, but not specifically for the elderly.

There is no official central registry of people with disabilities, and experts in the social service sector usually rely on the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s estimate of 3 per cent of the entire resident population having disabilities.

Different places define disability differently, but Singapore’s figure is lower than prevalence rates in Hong Kong (9 per cent) and the United States (13 per cent).

In all three places, the prevalence is higher in older age groups.

The World Health Organisation estimated in 2011 that 15 per cent of the world’s population have disabilities.

Disabled People’s Association vice-president Judy Wee did not find it surprising that 13.3 per cent of people aged 50 and above had disabilities, and welcomed the figures being made known.

“I think it shows that there are actually a lot of people who could benefit from efforts to make Singapore a more inclusive society,” she said.

This article was first published on Dec 21, 2016.
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EVERY week, I receive e-mail from local gaming company Singapore Pools that highlights some of the football matches that will be played around the world in the coming days.

The e-mail is chock-full of statistics, the latest betting odds, the teams’ recent form in all the competitions, and also the results of their last five head-to-head meetings.

I began to get this regular newsletter of sorts after I signed up for a Singapore Pools account at the end of October, a few days after the operator launched its new online betting service.

I don’t consider myself a compulsive or big-time gambler by any means. I do, however, enjoy the occasional flutter whenever there’s a big event taking place, such as the annual Toto Hongbao draw (this year’s prize was S$13.9 million) or major football tournaments such as the Fifa World Cup or European Championships.

After I covered the news from Singapore Pools and the Singapore Turf Club that they would roll out Web-based betting services, my curiosity was sufficiently piqued to give it a try.

s I’m not a big fan of horse-race betting (which is what the Turf Club specialises in), I got myself a Singapore Pools account that would allow me to wager on the lotteries (4D and Toto), football, and motorsports.

The registration process is simple enough.

First, it’s stated that a customer has to be at least 21 to get an account. Among other things, the website requires you to input your personal details, and indicate the maximum daily amount that you’re willing to deposit and bet.

Once that’s done, you have to head down to any Singapore Pools outlet and present your identity card to a teller, who verifies your identity and age on the spot.

The operator then carries out the necessary checks with the National Council on Problem Gambling, to ensure that an applicant is not among the 51,000 individuals currently on the casino exclusion list.

After a wait of about five days, I finally got the all-clear and was ready to begin my online gambling experience, using either my smartphone or computer.

At the Singapore Pools website, the first step is to key in your username and password, and then a six-digit one-time password that is sent to your registered mobile number. This is the two-factor authentication.

Placing a bet is as easy as 1-2-3. For a start, you have to deposit some money inside.

You can do this in several ways, such as using a top-up card or online through eNets.

There’s usually a whole bunch of football games lined up over the next few days, and there are all types of bets to pick from. Click on the bet of your choice, enter the stake, hit “submit”, and you’re all set.

Should you win, the total amount (initial bet and winnings) will be credited to your account in a matter of minutes.

The online service is 24/7, and punters can place bets even while the matches are in progress – yes, even at 4am in the morning during those Champions League games.

I’ve also placed bets of as little as S$1 each, for a specific team to score the next goal or on the exact half- time score. The possibilities are endless.

What a joy, I thought, to be able to carry out all my betting transactions in the palm of my hand, in the comfort of my home, instead of having to trot down to a physical outlet, shade those slips of paper, and then join the queue to make the payment.

Then, if I win, I have to return the next day, get in line again, and wait to claim my winnings.

When news of the online betting service was first announced in September, the Home Affairs Ministry explained that it was not possible to fully eradicate unauthorised remote gambling in Singapore, even with robust enforcement and tight blocking measures.

Getting hooked

However, the authorities are also not in favour of a complete ban, as this would drive remote gambling activities underground and exacerbate law-and-order concerns.

Those worries are justified. The global market for remote gambling is estimated to be worth about US$40 billion a year, and growing at a rate of 6-8 per cent each year.

There are also concerns over loan shark activities and money laundering, among others.

My take is that while the online betting services by Singapore Pools and the Turf Club will entice some of those already engaging in illegal betting to switch over, there is a fear that casual gamblers will be hooked and inevitably venture out to the casinos or elsewhere to feed the gambling habit.

Read Also: Catholic Church urges government to monitor gambling situation

The online betting avenue could also inadvertently attract more first-time punters who might not even have thought about betting on anything in the first place.

Like it or not, it’s in our human nature to get a high from taking risks with one’s money, even if it’s just a dollar or two.

The exuberance when your numbers match the first prize on the 4D draw, or when your team wins the match, produces this natural high.

It’s a good thing that the move to exempt the two operators from the existing Remote Gambling Act is not permanent, but only for the next three years.

There will be an opportunity to make a U-turn on the exemption should the problem-gambling issue worsen.

The authorities must be decisive and act quickly if the addiction numbers go up – if only to prevent more people from sliding down this slippery slope.

This article was first published on December 21, 2016.
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A total of 50 construction workers have reported to the Manpower Ministry that their employer owed them at least two months of wages.

A ministry spokesman said yesterday that the complaints made were against Audi Construction, a subcontractor specialising in building structures.

The ministry said it is looking into the pay claims and “investigating the company for possible offences under the Employment Act”.

Audi was working on the Ang Mo Kio Nursing Home project for main contractor Kian Hiap Construction.

As of last night, 19 of its workers from China had received part of the money owed to them and had flown home.

One of them is Mr Zhao Sheng Wei.

The 34-year-old told The Straits Times in a phone interview from Changi Airport that he was owed about $5,000 in wages for September through to last month.

“We had no money to eat, no money even to take the train to the ministry,” he said.

After reporting to the ministry last month, he received $2,000.

The ministry told him it was an insurance payout as his employer was unable to pay, he added.

Shin Min Daily News, a Chinese evening newspaper, had reported on Monday that 21 workers staying in a shophouse in Balestier said they were owed a total of $80,000 by their boss Xu Xi Bin.

The newspaper also said Mr Xu stopped paying them from September and cancelled their work permits without informing them.

The workers said that initially, they were each given a subsistence allowance of $200, but later were provided with only rice, potatoes and onions to eat.

Mr Xu told Shin Min he had no money to pay the workers as he has been owed money by main contractor Kian Hiap since September.

He said the workers had agreed to finish the project and then claim the salaries they were owed, but they later refused to work. He had no choice but to cancel their work permits, he told Shin Min.

When contacted yesterday, he declined to comment further.

A spokesman for Kian Hiap could not be reached for comment.

Mr Zhao said that although the money paid was not the full amount owed, he had no choice but to return home to his wife and four children in Shanxi province.

“We can’t wait anymore. Many of us have wives and children to support,” he said, adding that he would decide after the Chinese New Year celebrations whether to apply for another job in Singapore.

“I’m a bit worried that something like this will happen again, especially now that the economy is not so good,” he said.

joseow@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on December 21, 2016.
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Businessman Lim Chai Heng, 53, has been charged with causing death by reckless or dangerous driving for his role in Monday morning’s dramatic accident on the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE).

He allegedly drove a Mercedes-Benz car against the flow of traffic at high speed and rammed into a car, killing its driver, Mr Liong Kuo Hwa, 37. Four others were injured, including Lim himself.

The incident happened at 8.02am. The charge says that Lim went against the flow of traffic, thus resulting in a head-on collision with Mr Liong’s Toyota Vios, which was travelling towards the Tuas Checkpoint.

Lim’s car – ferrying a man who later identified himself to a witness as Lim’s son – then ploughed into a motorcycle, sending its rider and pillion rider flying in the air.

The incident was captured by various in-car cameras.

A Chinese interpreter yesterday read the holding charge to Lim, who was warded in National University Hospital for injuries.

Mr Liong, also known as Jackie, had appeared in several films, television programmes and commercials. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

His 37-year-old wife, Ms Venny Oliver, who was in the car, was injured and warded in hospital, along with the motorcyclist and his female pillion rider.

From a business profile search, The Straits Times (ST) learnt that Lim has owned a printing business operating from a unit at Kallang Bahru Industrial Estate since 1993.

The business was open when ST visited the premises yesterday afternoon, and there were three employees present at the time.

One of them, who declined to be named, would only say that Lim treated his staff well.

Mr Koh Siu Liung, who runs a business next door supplying equipment to the marine industry, said that Lim was friendly, always smiling and would chat with him often.

“We would talk about our businesses and regular everyday topics,” said Mr Koh. “He mentioned recently that his business has been a bit slow of late and he was not earning as much as in the past.”

When the ST team visited Lim’s Hougang Street 11 condominium, a male family member told a security guard that he did not want to speak to the media.

Lim will be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for psychiatric assessment after his discharge from hospital.

Read also: AYE accident: Mercedes driver seen ‘talking to himself’

The case will be mentioned in the State Courts on Jan 3.

The maximum punishment for causing death by dangerous driving is five years in jail.

elena@sph.com.sg

nghuiwen@sph.com.sg

zaihan@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on Dec 21, 2016.
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