Symphony Communications Services LLC is relocating its chief executive to Singapore and targeting Asian investors as it looks to expand its Wall Street chat technology into the region.

David Gurle, who is currently based in the company’s Palo Alto headquarters, will move to the Southeast Asian city-state in the first quarter of next year, a Symphony spokeswoman said.

Gurle’s relocation comes as Symphony is in talks to raise between $100 million to $150 million in funding from new and existing backers, according to people familiar with the deal.

The company has held discussions with potential investors based in Asia for the new round, which would value it at just over $1 billion, one of the people said.

The sources asked for anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Symphony spokeswoman Samantha Singh declined to comment on the funding round, saying the messaging company was already well-funded.

She said Gurle was moving to Singapore, “to help spearhead” the company’s push into the region, but that Asia had always been a “key market from day one.”

The Asian market for messaging technology is dominated by Tencent Holdings Ltd’s popular Chinese WeChat app.

Many Chinese traders already use WeChat as the preferred way to communicate and say moving over to another messaging platform would require convincing their investor clients to do the same.

Using mobile messaging and social media apps for trading is not unlawful in China.

The proliferation of WeChat users at banks has attracted the attention of Asian regulators, but they have historically tended to be less stringent than their US counterparts.

The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission code of conduct does not prohibit the use of social messaging apps, but encourages the strict recording and time stamping of all communications and says the use of mobile phones for orders is”strongly discouraged.”

This has created an opportunity in Asia for Symphony, which touts the security of its messaging service, some of the people said.

Prior to launching Symphony’s predecessor Perzo, Gurle spent several years in Singapore working for Thomson Reuters Corp , the parent company of Reuters.

Symphony was created in 2014 when a consortium of 14 financial institutions led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc acquired Perzo, in a joint effort to change the way their traders communicate.

The Symphony service is a rival to financial market messaging services offered by Bloomberg LP and Thomson Reuters.

The system allows financial firms, corporate customers and individuals to put all their digital communications – chats, texts, tweets and emails – on one centralized platform, aimed at creating a flexible and secure messaging service.

While traction for Symphony is not yet widespread across Wall Street trading floors, there are signs that may be changing.

Money manager BlackRock Inc, also an investor, is moving its internal chat for employees to Symphony.

Symphony has 116,000 users, and expects the number to grow to 130,000 before the end of the year, Singh said.

The company’s Asia push comes about a year after it raised $100 million from investors including technology giant Alphabet Inc, banking groups UBS, Societe Generale and Natixis and European VC firm Lakestar.

The Wall Street Journal has previously reported that Symphony is looking at a new round of funding.

TNP speaks to four couples who have been married for over half a century to find out their secrets

Last year, there were 7,522 divorces and annulments, the third-highest annual figure on record, according to a report by the Department of Statistics released in July.

But there is good news. Last week, six elderly couples, who have spent over 50 years together, renewed their vows at the Registry of Marriages (ROM).

Three of them and their solemnisers shared their love story with The New Paper.

l Who: Mr Sun Boon Huat, 80, and Madam Lim Chwee Kim, 76

l Married: 55 years

To this day, Mr Sun continues to buy daily necessities for his wife.

It has been a responsibility that Mr Sun has taken on since day one.

Said Madam Lim: “My husband will always buy the items, while I focused on taking care of our four children.”

There is no real secret to maintaining a long marriage, she said.

The only way is to tolerate each other.

And it was not always a bed of roses.

They used to argue over Mr Sun coming home late, said the grandmother of six..

Madam Lim added: “There shouldn’t be any overnight hatred between a couple.

“It’s important that we look past each other’s flaws as well.”

Her sweetest memory, said Madam Lim who got married in 1961, was their honeymoon in Taiwan in the 1980s.

They had put off their honeymoon as they wanted to save money for their children’s education.

l Who: Mr Tan Tok Guan, 79, and Madam Lee Ah Ching, 79

l Married: 55 years

Mr Tan recalled how he courted Madam Lee, whom he met through a mutual friend.

He casually asked her what was a nice movie to watch, then asked if she would like to watch it with him.

Said Mr Tan: “When she said yes, it meant I had won half the battle.”

While he does not remember any significant fights, he said they had cold wars from time to time.

But the most important thing, he stressed, is to remember each other’s good points and take care of each other in times of need.

“Recreational activities such as watching movies also help strengthen the marriage and bond the family,” he added.

l Who: Mr Chiang Khee Yan, 79, and Madam Tan Ah Lek, 72

l Married: 55 years

The sweetest moment for Mr Chiang and his wife was when their first son was born.

He said in Mandarin: “Our factory had finally produced.”

The former factory worker who now has two sons said their biggest fight happened during one Chinese New Year.

“I gambled with my colleagues in the factory and when I lost, I was so angry that I tore the movie tickets which I bought for my wife and me,” said Mr Chiang.

Madam Tan forgave him and told him not to gamble again.

His secret to a lasting marriage is acceptance and tolerance.

When he is unhappy, he will sing alone in his room to calm himself down.

Mr Chiang added: “Also, when either one of us does something wrong, we will apologise to each other.”

l Who: Mr Tan Peng Yam, 82, and Madam Hsu Phillips, 82

l Married: 56 years

It was an extra-curricular activity in school that brought the couple together.

Mr Tan told TNP that even though he and his wife attended different schools, they were members of their schools’ Drama Club.

“We got to help out in each other’s school drama performances and backstage work, and from there our friendship developed,” he said.

To keep a marriage going, be honest, respectful, understanding and inclusive of each other, he said.

“There should be mutual care, love and respect towards each other’s family in all circumstances,” said the solemniser, who has two children.

“As husband and wife living together for years, differences and arguments are unavoidable. We need to calm down and solve the issues gradually.”

Read also: ‘I did’ more than 50 years ago – and today, ‘I still do’

This article was first published on December 13, 2016.
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Ample reserves, effective policies and strong institutions will help Republic ride out short-term economic challenges, says ratings agency Moody’s

Singapore finds itself in an elite club that is getting smaller.

Credit ratings agency Moody’s last week reaffirmed Singapore’s triple-A rating – the agency’s highest rating – and maintained a stable outlook for the country.

This year, a record number of countries have had their credit ratings downgraded by the three top ratings agencies: Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s.

Singapore is now one of just 10 economies – down from 16 a decade ago – to hold the highest score from all three major assessors.

Australia has a similar rating, but speculation is rising this could be at risk owing to its budget deficit.

Last week’s shock third quarter economic contraction did not help.

Other economies still riding high include Canada, Denmark, Germany and Norway.

Britain lost its last triple-A rating from Standard & Poor’s after June’s Brexit vote as the agency warned of economic, fiscal and constitutional risks the nation would face.

Credit ratings are used to gauge creditworthiness and measure the political as well as economic risk of investing in countries.

Some market watchers query their relevance to sovereign credit markets, especially in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Back then, ratings agencies assigned top grades to mortgage-backed securities and other investments which turned out to be highly risky.

Ratings have deteriorated around the world in a volatile year, which should push up the cost of borrowing.

However, borrowing rates are also at rock-bottom levels.

Still, that debate aside, it is reassuring that Singapore’s creditworthiness has remained on an even keel amid all the volatility this year.

Moody’s said the economy is facing short-term challenges but its strong institutions, ample reserves and the effectiveness of government policies will help the Republic stay resilient in the longer term

This article was first published on December 13, 2016.
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SINGAPORE – As of November, a third of this year’s train delays lasting more than five minutes were signal-related, said rail operator SMRT.

In a post on the SMRT blog last Friday, SMRT Trains managing director Lee Ling Wee wrote: “We expect these to reduce significantly after we successfully migrate our ageing signalling system to the new Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) system.”

The signalling systems on both the North-South (NSL) and East-West lines (EWLs) are being upgraded. The upgrade will allow trains to run at shorter intervals of 100 seconds, instead of 120 seconds now, thus increasing train frequency and reducing crowds in trains.

The current fixed-block signalling system divides the track into blocks of between 200m and 300m, and can detect where a train is only when it moves into a new section. For safety, trains are always kept at least one block apart from each other.

The new CBTC system relays the exact location and speed of every train to a computer, so they can travel closer together at distances of between 60m and 70m. Similar CBTC systems are already in use on the newer North-East and Circle lines.

SMRT said in its latest blog post that the new signalling system will be activated on the NSL in 2017, and that it is working hard to complete the project on the EWL by end-2018.

Faulty signalling hardware on a train was responsible for the mysterious interference which led to multiple delays on the Circle Line in late August and early last month, leading to slower train speeds and reduced service frequency.

This article was first published on Dec 12, 2016.
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Around 40,000 cleaners will see basic pay go up by $200 over next three years

The basic pay of cleaners will go up by $200 over three years, starting next July.

After that, it will rise yearly by 3 per cent for three years.

On top of that, those employed by the same business for at least 12 months will get a yearly bonus, from 2020.

It will be equivalent to two weeks of their basic monthly pay, and may be paid annually or biannually.

The recommendations, unveiled by the Tripartite Cluster for Cleaners (TCC) yesterday, is a significant move to further boost the wages of some of Singapore’s lowest-paid workers.

National Trades Union Congress assistant secretary-general Zainal Sapari, who is also TCC’s chairman, said: “The (change) may be seen as a half-step, but to us, this is a big half-step… This is the first time we are forcing an industry’s annual increments, as well as some form of bonus.”

The Government has accepted the recommendations, which will benefit more than 40,000 Singaporean and permanent residents employed by over 1,200 cleaning firms.

Companies with service contracts that start before next July have until July 1, 2018, to comply with the recommended wages.

The TCC suggestions follow its review of the progressive wage model in the cleaning industry.

The model aims to raise the pay of low-wage workers through skills upgrading and improvements in productivity.

It applies to workers in the cleaning, security and landscape sectors, and became compulsory for the cleaning industry in September last year.

The model specifies a starting pay of at least $1,000 a month for cleaners, with wages rising to $1,400 and more for higher-skilled cleaners, and from $1,600 for supervisors.

Cleaners have seen their wages rise since 2012, when the model was mooted. The median basic wage of full-time cleaners grew by 9 per cent from 2012 to last year. It was $1,100 in June last year.

More needs to be done to ensure cleaners achieve sustainable real wage increases, the TCC and NTUC said in a joint statement yesterday.

Mr Zainal said: “We need to make the employment terms and conditions better.”

This article was first published on Dec 13, 2016.
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