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Life is slowly but surely returning to normal in the financial markets, as another humdrum week slipped by without any cliffhangers to set the pulse racing.

May, however, has traditionally been a dreary month, a time when investors sell their stocks and go away - and this year has been no exception.

Thus, it is not surprising to find many investors still huddled along the sidelines and not taking any chances.

A few weeks after the self-serving predictions made by a couple of bank bosses that the worst of the global credit crisis was over, the world’s financial markets appeared to be climbing back up on their feet again.

Even the stream of write-downs by global banks and insurance giants was shrugged off with hardly a note of concern among investors.

Many dismiss reports of the credit crunch as yesterday’s news.

In the past few weeks, credit markets have thawed. Fresh deals are now being executed daily.

Investors are willing to stick their necks out and snap up offerings made by battered banks to repair their capital base.

Even well-capitalised Singapore firms are making the most of the balmy weather.

Last week, DBS Group Holdings raised an eye-popping $1.5 billion from a preference share offering - a feat that some would have considered impossible as recently as in January.

And after months of sitting on cash, investors are stirring again.

They are nibbling at blue chips, such as Singapore Airlines and Keppel Corp, which pay out decent dividends.

Yet, despite the positive signs in the financial markets, doubts continue to gnaw at traders.

True, the life-and-death struggle in the credit markets appears to be over, and there is no longer a fear that a global bank may collapse under the massive weight of bad mortgages in the United States.

The huge amount of money poured into financial markets by the US Federal Reserve and other central banks in the past eight months, however, has stoked fears of a runaway inflation.

Investors have had a taste of what might be in store, with crude oil prices soaring past US$127 a barrel last Friday.

In the 1970s, when inflation was a serious threat, equities produced miserable returns as an asset class, with listed firms struggling to cope with the price distortions that blew holes in their balance sheets.

So, while the benchmark Straits Times Index rose 79.46 points to 3,241.49 last week, overall market conditions stayed quiet.

Investors turned their attention to assessing how the dust would settle in a world humbled by a severe credit crisis.

Until a clearer picture emerges, expect more nail-biting among investors.

Source : Straits Times - 19 May 2008

We wish to point out contradictions in Mr Tan Kok Khoon’s letter, ‘Mandarin Gardens en-bloc sale - committee not involved in AGM” (May 9).
 
According to Mr Tan, the Mandarin Gardens Collective Sales Committee (CSC) ‘was not involved in the proceedings of the annual general meeting on April 27′, but the facts speak otherwise.

Official records show that 200 owners attended the AGM, of whom 93 attended in person and 107 attended by proxy. Of the proxies, 69 were held by two CSC members, one of whom was Mr Tan himself who held 55 proxies.

Yet, Mr Tan says in his letter: ‘We certainly did not organise any collection of proxies’, suggesting this large concentration of proxies in the hands of two CSC members came by without organisation and effort, which is hard to believe.

Mr Tan also said in his letter: ‘One of our (CSC) members present at the AGM declared that none of us would stand for election to the council.’ In fact, a resolution to prevent CSC members from being management council members and vice versa, was soundly defeated by 67 per cent of the votes. Clearly, the CSC did not approve of this resolution and used its proxies to vote against it.

Finally, two CSC members tabled a resolution to bar the management council from spending more than $50,000 on urgent matters. This controversial resolution was passed by a 61 per cent majority, obviously with the help of proxy votes held by CSC members.

It is evident to us who attended the AGM, the longest ever recorded at Mandarin Gardens, that CSC members influenced the proceedings and determined the outcome of the AGM.
K. Kuladeva, Dennis Butler and Jeannette Aruldoss (Ms)

Source : Straits Times - 19 May 2008

WHAT IT IS

THE Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) will unveil the Draft Master Plan 2008 on Friday.

The new Master Plan is expected to make changes in land use, increase plot ratios as well as lay the groundwork for a much larger population of 6.5 million, which could be reached in as short a span of time as 20 years.

The country’s planners are drawing up future development plans for housing, recreation, land transport and the economy’s needs based on this new projection. The previous target was 5.5 million.

WHY IT MATTERS

The Draft Master Plan 2008 is the most important statutory plan used to determine land use and shape Singapore’s physical development in the next 10 to 15 years.

This year’s Master Plan is expected to focus on growth areas, rather than widespread upgrade in densities. Key sectors which are likely to benefit include hotels, aerospace, health care and transport.

Source : Straits Times - 19 May 2008

FRASERS Centrepoint Trust has completed the first revamp of a multimillion-dollar plan to jazz up its malls.

Anchorpoint Shopping Centre was relaunched last Thursday after a $13 million makeover, setting the stage for similar transformations at Frasers’ Northpoint and Causeway Point shopping centres.

The suburban mall in Alexandra Road used to house mainly furniture stores. The makeover, which took a year to complete, has turned it into an ‘outlet mall’ filled with food and beverage stalls, and shops selling year-round discounted fashion merchandise.

Anchorpoint opened for business in March, when the renovations ended - and the results so far have been impressive.

Average rents are now about $7.50 per sq ft (psf), up from $5.40 psf in late 2006, when the revamp plans commenced, said chief executive Christopher Tang.

Occupancy has also risen, from 92 per cent to 98 per cent, while gross revenue, according to the trust’s second- quarter results this year, has doubled over the previous year.

The previously lacklustre sales were because the mall did not have ‘the right tenant mix’ with the furniture stores, said Mr Lee Hsien Yang, the chairman of Fraser & Neave, Frasers’ parent company.

Frasers plans to transform Northpoint and Causeway Point, as well as add three soon-to-be-built malls - Yew Tee Mall, Bedok Mall and Northpoint 2 - to its $989 million portfolio by 2010.

Northpoint 2, which will cost $38.6 million to build, will add 80,000 sq ft of retail space to the existing Northpoint mall in Yishun by the middle of next year.

Frasers also plans to grow its existing portfolio of suburban malls in Malaysia and is looking to enter Vietnam, said Mr Tang.

Source : Straits Times - 19 May 2008

Brisk business at most stalls but some report fewer patrons; original market to reopen late next year after revamp

The temporary home for the stalls in Tekka Market, a 10-minute walk from its original site in Buffalo Road, was officially opened yesterday.

The zinc structure is along Race Course Road, opposite the Banana Leaf Apolo restaurant.

The temporary facility houses 267 of the 538 cooked food, wet market and goods stalls which used to occupy the popular market.

The remaining stall owners have either shut for good, are taking a break or have moved elsewhere temporarily.

Tekka Market, which closed on May 1 for a $12 million refurbishment of its drainage and piping systems, will reopen late next year.

It will also be made more accessible to the elderly and less mobile.

The temporary market was declared open yesterday by Senior Minister of State for Education and Information, Communications and the Arts Lui Tuck Yew, who is also an MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC.

It seemed to be business as usual, with almost all the stalls open and thronging with patrons.

But some stall owners said they have had 50 to 60 per cent less business since moving in about two weeks ago.

They are blaming this on the market’s distance from its original site and its lack of accessibility. They add that with no covered walkways, customers disappear whenever it rains.

Drink stall owner Mubarak Ali, 45, who has operated at Tekka for 22 years, said customers were there to buy produce rather than to eat and drink at the cooked food stalls.

‘I hope things will improve with time,’ he added.

Textile shop owner S.T. Rani, in his 50s, said his customers

were ‘uncomfortable’ with the relocation because the new atmosphere was very different, ‘but they are gradually getting used to it’.

Rear-Admiral (NS) Lui, addressing these concerns, told reporters that the temporary market was still in its ‘early days’.

‘Improvements will be made along the way to make it more convenient for people to come here. Over time, things will pick up,’ he said.

He added that discussions were under way with the Land Transport Authority to build taxi stands at the market.

RADM Lui added: ‘Tekka Market is an icon and serves not just the people who live here but elsewhere too.’

Source : Straits Times - 19 May 2008