She thought it was a mere infatuation.

Until she felt threatened.

Ann (not her real name), an administrative assistant in her 20s, was stalked by her ex-lover for over a month after their break-up in July.

Ann told The New Paper she constantly had to look over her shoulder because she was worried he was following her.

She said: “It started less than a month after our break-up. He started appearing when I didn’t reply to his text messages.”

She did not realise the seriousness of the situation until she noticed him lurking at the places she hung out.

She said: “I had checked in at a nail salon on Facebook and after I finished my manicure session, I saw him nearby.

“That was when I realised he was really following me everywhere and was checking on my every move.”

Ann is a victim of unlawful stalking, which is defined as entering or loitering in any public or private place frequented by the victim, or the victim’s place of residence or business.

Unlawful stalking and other harassment offences come under the Protection from Harassment Act (POHA), which was enacted in November 2014 to strengthen harassment laws here.

Since the Act was enacted, there have been 222 applications for protection orders. Of these, at least 76 were granted.

MORE SEEKING HELP

Lawyers The New Paper spoke to confirmed they are seeing an increase in clients seeking help due to harassment and unlawful stalking.

Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) said it received reports of 150 cases of harassment so far this year, and most of them involve stalking.

After the incident at the salon, Ann stopped revealing her location on social media, but it was not the end of her nightmare.

The ex-boyfriend also threatened to leak an obscene video of the two of them and spread rumours that she had an abortion.

He then began showing up near her home.

Ann said: “My mother was hanging the clothes out to dry when she spotted him at the next block.

“I constantly felt haunted. I didn’t feel safe at all.”

For the next three days, Ann ordered McDonald’s delivery for food because she was afraid of bumping into him. She also got her friend to drive her around if she needed to go out.

She said: “My worst fear was that he would come into my house and kill me.”

Ann said: “My ex’s love turned into an obsession.”

After days of being cooped up at home, she finally decided to seek help from the police.

Ann said: “They told me it was harassment, but they advised me to seek legal help in applying for protection orders instead.”

Her ex-boyfriend stopped following her after he found out through mutual friends that she had sought help from the police.

TNP understands that the police often request for victims to seek legal help as it cannot take action unless there is a court order.

The police step in depending on the circumstances – there is a higher chance of intervention if there is criminal intent or the actions are life-threatening.

But the price of seeking legal means was an obstacle for her.

She said: “Paying for the lawyers easily costs from $3,000 to $5,000.”

Ann added: “I think love turned into an obsession. Although he has stopped after knowing I went to the police, I still wish I had taken action earlier.”

My worst fear was that he would come into my house and kill me. – ‘Ann’

WHAT CONSTITUTES STALKING?

Stalking is not just following someone. It encompasses a wide range of acts, said Ms Jolene Tan, head of advocacy and research at the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware).

They include:

– sending communications to or about someone

– entering or loitering at their home, workplace or anywhere else they frequent

– interfering with their property

– sending unwanted material (such as gifts and flowers)

– keeping them under watch.

Ms Tan added: “Even a one-time act, if it is sufficiently serious, can constitute stalking.”

Aware said they had received reports of around 150 cases of harassment so far this year.

These harassment cases usually include stalking, added Ms Tan.

Last year, they had 130 cases of sexual harassment (physical and non-physical) and 47 cases of stalking or non-sexual harassment.

Ms Tan said the enactment of the Protection from Harassment Act suggests that harassment and stalking are being taken more seriously by the authorities.

She said: “It is also a sign that our society is gradually recognising harassment and abuse as acts that go beyond physical violence.”

WHAT CAN VICTIMS DO?

Under the Protection from Harassment Act (POHA), victims of stalking have both criminal and civil remedies.

For criminal remedies, they can make a police report and/or make a Magistrate’s complaint at the State Court to seek redress for the offence committed. A police report can also be made online through the Singapore Police Force website.

In respect of civil remedies, victims can apply for POHA court orders such as protection order​, expedited protection order​, or ​non-publication order.

This will get the perpetrator to stop further harassment​ or ​stalking, and can, for example, stop​ the stalker from contacting ​the victim or ​have online posts taken down.

Victims who can get a lawyer can also sue a harasser or stalker for monetary compensation.

If the harasser or stalker is a family member, they can also seek a Personal Protection Order from the family court under the Women’s Charter.

Source: Aware

This article was first published on Oct 17, 2016.
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Finding tenants for her four investment properties never used to be much of an issue for investor Jenny Yang, but those days of easy money are long gone.

Two of her units – a studio apartment in Novena and a two-bedroom unit near Lavender MRT station – remain vacant after the tenants, both foreigners, returned home in recent months.

“In the past, before one tenant moved out, I would get another offer, especially for the Lavender unit… now it’s slower. The offers are too low as well,” she told The Straits Times recently. She renewed leases for her two other properties – in the Bedok Reservoir area and Tampines – this year after lowering the rent by about 5 per cent.

Her plight is broadly in line with market trends, marked by falling rents and rising vacancies amid sluggish economic growth and a large supply of new units.

“With the economy slowing and the financial sector restructuring, the number of completions has outpaced the growth (in number) of foreigners, who account for about 60 per cent of the leasing activity,” said Dr Lee Nai Jia, head of South-east Asia research at property consultancy Edmund Tie & Co.

There were 30,310 vacant private homes and a vacancy rate of 8.9 per cent as of June 30, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

International Property Advisor estimates the islandwide vacancy rate could hit 11.1 per cent by the end of the year. Its chief executive Ku Swee Yong noted: “The lack of leasing demand is not just due to the slowing economy, but recent statistics show that the top categories which contributed to population growth – including foreign domestic workers and dependants of pass holders – do not add demand for housing units.”

Second-quarter data shows that vacancies were the highest at 12.6 per cent in the north-east region, which includes Punggol and Sengkang, followed by a 9.1 per cent vacancy rate in the east region, which includes Tampines and Pasir Ris.

Condominium rents in the core central region rose 0.1 per cent in the second quarter over the first, while those in the city fringe dipped 0.6 per cent and those in the suburbs declined 1.2 per cent.

The lacklustre leasing market has not put off investors at recent launches. Small-business owner Andrew Yap, who bought a two-bedder at Forest Woods for $917,000 on Oct 8, said: “The market is dull now, but the project won’t be completed till a few more years… with future commercial development in Paya Lebar nearby, I think there’ll be tenants.”

Analysts expect the rental market to soften further, with suburban areas most vulnerable next year, when the bulk of units under construction are expected to be completed.

“Rental demand for some areas is still okay… such as for one- and two- bedroom units in the Central Business District, Marina Bay, Orchard Road, Buona Vista and River Valley,” said PropNex Realty senior associate director Anthea Yeo.

With rents moderating, Knight Frank noted that the average rent per lease signed fell 8.8 per cent in the suburbs in the first half of this year over the same period last year, while that of the core central region slipped 4.5 per cent and that for the city fringe was down 4 per cent.

Landlords like accountant Eunice Lim have been more flexible in view of the weaker demand. Ms Lim recently rented out a one-bedder in Balestier for $1,700 a month. “That’s a 30 per cent drop in rent… I was prepared to offer a discount. High rents in this market will not materialise. We have to be realistic,” she said.

Property agents say it will remain a tenant’s market in view of the wide choice of units available, but those near transport nodes and amenities will enjoy better demand.

This article was first published on October 17, 2016.
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The decline in private home prices is wooing buyers back to the market and giving agents something to cheer about after a few lean years.

Take agent Daryl Ou, who hit his sales target for the year in June.

“I managed to close more transactions this year; they have increased about 50 per cent year-on-year… I see more opportunities because of renewed buyers’ interest and several upcoming project launches,” said Mr Ou, an associate district director at Huttons Asia.

Estate agencies PropNex Realty, OrangeTee and ERA Realty Network said their agents closed around 20 per cent to 40 per cent more transactions in the first nine months of the year than in the same period in 2015.

“Prices have been sliding… and it has perhaps reached a level that potential buyers are somewhat comfortable with,” said PropNex chief executive Mohamed Ismail Gafoor.

Prices are down 10.8 per cent from a peak in the third quarter of 2013. A drop of that size after years of steady rises has proved enough to entice wary home seekers.

Engineer Kelvin Kwek and his wife have finally made the jump after four years of property searching.

“We have been looking around but prices then were still high. This year, prices slipped so we decided to invest… It’s an upgrade of living style for us,” said Mr Kwek, who bought a new three-bedroom unit at Forest Woods in Lorong Lew Lian for $1.27 million.

Despite lacklustre economic prospects, concerns over job security and rising vacancies, the demand for private homes this year seems to have kept pace with last year in the wake of falling prices.

Knight Frank noted that private residential transactions were 6.8 per cent higher in the first nine months of this year at 11,254 – both new sales and resale – compared with 10,533 transactions in the same period last year.

OrangeTee told The Straits Times that its agents have done 40 per cent more private residential deals in the nine months to Sept 30 than in the same period last year – partly due to an increase in the number of agents this year.

Meanwhile, transaction volumes were up 25 per cent for PropNex Realty agents and 20 per cent for ERA Realty Network.

OrangeTee managing director Steven Tan said: “With cooling measures expected to remain unchanged and interest rates still relatively low, some of these buyers have decided to deploy their capital and enter the market.”

There were 5,587 resale deals in the first nine months of the year, up on the 4,696 sales in the same period last year. Sales of new units came in at 5,667, lower than the 5,837 sales in January to September last year.

Developers and resellers have also become more competitive in pricing units in the face of challenging market conditions and price-sensitive buyers.

Attractively priced resale properties have recently sold at The Makena in Meyer Road at $1,245 psf, Helios Residences in Cairnhill Circle at $2,088 psf and Valley Park in River Valley at $1,357 psf, noted International Property Advisor.

But some home hunters are prepared to wait for even better deals.

“I think there’s a good chance prices could drop further, seeing the way the economy is now,” said financial consultant Sanjay Ashok Wadhwani, who is looking for a resale unit for his own use.

Private home prices saw their steepest fall in seven years in the third quarter, tumbling 1.5 per cent from the previous three months, according to flash estimates.

ERA Realty Network key executive officer Eugene Lim expects prices to “continue to trend downwards” for the rest of the year, projecting a decline of 3 per cent to 3.5 per cent for this year.

Cushman & Wakefield research director Christine Li noted: “If the investment is for owner-occupation, there is no harm going back to the market; if it is for investment, particularly with the view of renting the units out, it is better to wait or be selective when buying.”

This article was first published on Oct 17, 2016.
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You might have spotted them during the Mid-Autumn Festival last month: miniature hot-air balloons – with hopes and wishes written on their paper bodies – rising high into the sky.

Lit paper lanterns, or sky lanterns, drifting against the dark sky may make for a pretty picture.

But, when the fuel runs out and the lanterns make their way back to the ground, they sometimes get entangled in trees, set fire to vegetation or end up being ingested by wildlife.

As sky lanterns continue to be released during Chinese New Year or Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations here, environmentalists are concerned that they could pose a fire and environmental hazard.

Those intending to release sky lanterns must inform the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore of their plans, and a spokesman told The Straits Times that it has received an average of about 17 notifications a year for the past five years.

Last month, travel company 3PlayGrounds organised a tethered sky lantern release event at a field near Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Clementi.

The event was touted as environmentally-friendly, involving lanterns attached to a string so they would not fly away – as per guidelines set by the Singapore Civil Defence Force – and made with biodegradable material.

But the event drew a backlash from some environmentalists, who said that despite the precautions, some lanterns still got caught in trees, causing embers to fall on surrounding vegetation.

Environmental biology graduate Sumita Thiagarajan, 22, who was at the event, said the 40m string was too long and too thin.

She counted six lanterns getting entangled in trees when they could not be reeled in in time.

She also said that one lantern snapped from its line and flew into a nearby patch of forest.

In response, the organiser said that of the 80 lanterns released, three ended up in trees after the event, but they were retrieved the next day.

On the lantern that flew into the forest patch, a 3PlayGrounds spokesman said the darkness prevented immediate retrieval and organisers returned to look for it the next day.

“The lantern was not found, and thick vegetation also made our search quite hard.

We assume that the lantern, being of thin paper, was dissolved by the rain,” she said, adding that the firm regretted this and recommended some precautions.

This includes using shorter strings that are 20m long, ensuring lanterns are released about 25m away from surrounding structures such as trees, and attaching the lantern to the reel more securely so the thread cannot be accidentally burnt through.

Miss Sumita said these measures were a step in the right direction, but added that organisers can look to alternatives without fire, such as lanterns with lights or drones.

To show that environmentalists are no party poopers, Miss Sumita and Ms Ria Tan, who runs wildlife site wildsingapore.com, plan to organise an event using kites instead of lanterns during the Mid-Autumn Festival next year.

“They can be wishing kites with different coloured lights and can still be flown high up into the sky, with no fire involved,” said Ms Tan.

This article was first published on Oct 17, 2016.
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