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She could have been listening to music ...
SINGAPORE
A coroner’s inquest into the death of Madam Wang Aiqin, a part-time cleaner, revealed that a police officer who arrived at the accident scene found the device attached to her mobile phone which was still playing Chinese songs.
The China national was killed in the accident at around 8am that day on the railway track along Upper Bukit Timah Road.
Investigating Officer Assistant Superintendent Siow Ji Qing, however, told the court that nobody saw the train hit Mdm Wang.
Both the driver and his assistant only found out about the accident after their train pulled in at the Tanjong Pagar Depot about 40 minutes later.
A passer-by found Mdm Wang lying motionless at the side of the tracks at around 8.10am.
She was pronounced dead at 8.30am.
The court heard that she was on her way to her work place on the day of the accident.
It is believed she decided to take a shortcut and had walked across the train tracks.
State Coroner Imran Abdul Hamid agreed with ASP Siow’s findings which ruled out foul play and suicide. — A 40-year-old woman who was killed after being hit by a Malayan Railway (KTM) train on Sept 7 could have been listening to music through an ear-piece just before the accident.
Shaff iq Alkhatib
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Elderly woman dies after being hit by train at Yio Chu Kang
SINGAPORE
The SMRT said the incident occurred at about 11.20pm.
The police received a call at about 11.25pm, and upon arrival, found the body of a woman in her 60s, on the train tracks.
She was pronounced dead by paramedics at about 11.50pm.
The police have classified the case as unnatural death and are investigating.
The SMRT said that south-bound train services resumed at about 12.40am.
Free bus-bridging services were deployed to ferry affected passengers from Yishun to Toa Payoh MRT stations, and the SMRT said this continued until the end of passenger service hours.
Circle Line train service also continued for passengers making a connection from the train and bus bridging services.
The SMRT said passengers were kept informed of the service disruption, as well as of the free bus services, at affected stations.
The north-bound train service was not affected.
Passengers who were unable to complete their commute can claim a full fare refund from the Passenger Service Centre at any of the 68 SMRT stations within the next three working days, said the SMRT. — About 680 passengers were affected by train service disruptions after an elderly woman was hit by a southbound train at Yio Chu Kang MRT Station on Wednesday night.
MONICA KOT WANI
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Spike in fees excessive?
Letter from Leow Zi Xiang
I AM writing to highlight the spike in fees for the upcoming Preparatory Course to Part B of the Singapore Bar Examinations, which is administered by the Singapore Institute of Legal Education (SILE) for law degree-holders seeking to be called to the Singapore Bar.
Last year, the fees totalled about S$4,500 for Singaporeans but this year, they have ballooned by over 40 per cent to more than S$6,500.
I understand that there is a modified syllabus this year, but even then, surely the increase is excessive.
Fresh graduates no longer enjoy the benefit of student loans and have yet to earn a salary.
For some it is a struggle to come up with the necessary funds.
The SILE is a statutory body performing a public function and should not be seeking to profit from the exercise of its duties.
Have the costs of administering the course really increased by so much?
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More pedestrian crossing chaos
Letter from Chua Kim Choo
I OFTEN see cyclists competing for space with pedestrians a the junction outside Khatib MRT Station.
The cyclists assume they have the right of way and speed across the junction.
The other evening, I saw a few riders on motorised bicycles speeding past the pedestrians, almost knocking down a few as they zig-zagged among the pedestrians crossing at the junction.
Whenever the pedestrians did not give way, the cyclists would give them a nasty look. I hope the relevant authority takes a firm stand on this before serious accidents occur.
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So, what are a cyclist’s rights?
Letter from Edward Goh
THE letters from Kwee Chong Yeo and Edwin James Fawcett on June 6 relate incidents between cyclists and pedestrians/joggers. It seems that, in each incident, both parties reckoned they had the right of way.
Let me share an incident involving a cyclist and myself as a motorist, on the morning of June 10.
I was driving along Yishun Ave 7 and approached a slip road that turned left into Sembawang Road.
I noticed a cyclist to my right crossing the traffic light junction on Yishun Ave 7, and I thought that he would stop when he reached the zebra crossing at the slip road.
So I drove on — but then suddenly realised that the cyclist had sped up and was going to zip across the zebra crossing.
I had to step on the brakes.
I wound down my window and said to the cyclist that he should have stopped. To my surprise, he said that I should have done so.
I realised that this cyclist thought he had the right to use a pedestrian crossing, despite the fact that he is not a “pedestrian” and was certainly going at faster than walking speed.
Should I fault him, or has there been no clear indication for cyclists from the Land Transport Authority?
I would appreciate it if the LTA clarifies what are the rights of cyclists, be it on footpaths, jogging tracks, the road or at pedestrian crossings.
I am sure it would help save lives or at least prevent injuries.
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Bring back 3-tier families
Be it under the same roof or in the same block, live close to our elderly to take care of them
Letter from Peter Loon Seng Chee
Our society is now a very practical one, premised on what use someone is to us.
The irony is, we rush our kids to A-class wards and ask for C-class beds for the elderly.
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QUESTION OF WHEN
If this pattern of growth is to reverse, as the government wishes, the growth of investment must fall well below that of GDP.
This is what happened in Japan in the ’90s, with dire results.
The thesis advanced by Professor Pettis is that a forced investment strategy will normally end with such a bump.
The question is W H E N.
In China, it might be earlier in the growth process than in Japan because investment is so high.
Much of the investment now undertaken would be unprofitable without the artificial support provided, he argues.
One indicator, he suggests, is rapid growth of credit.
This, too, is reminiscent of Japan as late as the ’80s, when the attempt to sustain growth in investment-led domestic demand led to a ruinous credit expansion.
As growth slows, the demand for investment is sure to shrink.
At growth of 7 per cent, the needed rate of investment could fall by up to 15 per cent of GDP. But the attempt to shift income to households could force a yet bigger decline. From being an growth engine, investment could become a source of stagnation.
The optimistic view is that China’s growth potential is so great that it can manage the planned transition with ease.
The pessimistic view is that it is hard for a country investing half of GDP to decelerate smoothly.
I expect the transition to slower economic growth and greater reliance on consumption to be quite bumpy. The Chinese government is skilled. But it cannot walk on water. The water it is going to have to walk on over the next decade is going to be choppy.
Watch out for the waves.
Th e Financial Times Limited
Martin Wolf is chief economics commentator at The Financial Times, London.
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PROBLEM OF INVESTMENT-LED GROWTH
The first is that it is a middle-income country.
Economists increasingly recognise a “middle-income trap”.
Thus, sustaining rapid increases in productivity and managing huge structural shifts as the economy becomes more sophisticated is hard.
Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore are almost the only economies to have managed this feat over the past 60 years.
Happily, China has close cultural and economic similarities with these east Asian successes. Unhappily, China shares with these economies a model of investment led growth that is both a strength and a weakness.
Moreover, China’s version of this model is extreme.
For this reason, it is arguable that the model will cause difficulties even before it did in the arguably less distorted case of Japan.
Premier Wen Jiabao has himself described the economy as
“unstable, unbalanced, unco-ordinated and ultimately unsustainable”.
The nature of the challenge was made evident to me during discussions of the 12th five year plan at the China Development Forum 2011 in Beijing in March.
This new plan calls for a sharp change in the pace and structure of economic growth.
In particular, growth is forecast to decline to just 7 per cent a year.
More important, the economy is expected to rebalance from investment, towards consumption and, partly as a result, from manufacturing towards services.
The question is whether these shifts can be managed smoothly.
Professor Michael Pettis of Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management has argued that they cannot be.
His argument rests on the view that in the investment-led growth model, repression of household incomes plays a central role by subsidising that investment.
Removing that repression — a necessary condition for faster growth of consumption — risks causing a sharp slowdown in output and a still bigger slowdown in investment.
Growth is driven as much by subsidised expansion of capacity as by the profitable matching of supply to final demand.
This will end with a bump.
Investment has indeed grown far faster than GDP. From 2000 to last year, growth of gross fixed investment averaged 13.3 per cent, while growth of private consumption averaged 7.8 per cent. Over the same period the share of private consumption in GDP collapsed from 46 per cent to a mere 34 per cent, while the share of fixed investment rose from 34 per cent to 46 per cent.
Professor Pettis argues that suppression of wages, huge expansions of cheap credit and a repressed exchange rate were all ways of transferring incomes from households to business and so from consumption to investment. Mr Dwight Perkins of Harvard argued at the China Development Forum that the “incremental capital output ratio” — the amount of capital needed for an extra unit of GDP — rose from 3.7 to one in the ’90s to 4.25 to one in the 2000s.
This also suggests that returns have been falling at the margin.
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Is it conceivable that this colossus could learn that spectacular success is a precursor of surprising failure?
The answer is: YES.
SINGAPORE in SAME Ivy LEAGUE ? ? ? ?
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How China could yet fail like Japan
Why the transition to slower economic growth and greater reliance on consumption will be bumpy
Martin Wolf
Until 1990, Japan was the most successful large economy in the world. Almost nobody predicted what would happen to it in the succeeding decades. Today, people are yet more in awe of the achievements of China. Communist party.
Is it conceivable that this colossus could learn that spectacular success is a precursor of surprising failure?
The answer is: YES.
Japan’s gross domestic product per head (at purchasing power parity) jumped from a fifth of United States levels in 1950 to 90 per cent in 1990. But this spectacular convergence went into reverse: By last year 2010, Japan’s GDP per head had fallen to 76 per cent of US levels.
China’s GDP per head jumped from 3 per cent of US levels in 1978, when Mr Deng Xiaoping’s “reform and opening up” began, to a fifth of US levels today.
Is this going to continue as spectacularly over the next few decades or could China, too, surprise on the downside?
It is easy to make the optimistic case.
First, China has a proved record of success, with an average rate of economic growth of 10 per cent between 1979 and last year. Second, China is a long way from the living standards of the high-income countries. Relative to the US, its GDP per head is where Japan’s was in 1950, before a quarter century of further rapid growth.
If China matched Japan’s performance, its GDP per head would be 70 per cent of US levels by 2035 and its economy would be bigger than those of the US and European Union, combined.
Yet counter-arguments do exist.
One is that China’s size is a disadvantage: In particular, it makes its rise far more dramatic for the demand for resources than anything that has gone before. Another is that the political effects of such a transformation might be disruptive for a country run by a
It is also possible, however, to advance purely economic arguments for the idea that growth might slow more abruptly than most assume.
Such arguments rest on two features of China’s situation.
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Wine investors see R E D
Cheow Xin Yi
cheowxinyi@mediacorp.com.sg
SINGAPORE —
According to an automated reply sent to investors who emailed the company, the Singapore branch of PLA is “currently in the midst of handling a legal issue pertaining to our business partner in Hong Kong”.
The email added its Hong Kong office chief executive and director is “suspected of fraud”, and the firm’s Singapore and Malaysia branches have reported the matter to “relevant authorities and are cooperating with the police and related departments” to resolve the issue.
“With sincere apologies, we are unable to officiate any liquidation or new investment at the moment ... We seek your kind understanding if your liquidation payment has been delayed,” said the email.
The email did not name the director in question, who is reportedly missing as Hong Kong authorities investigate a case which could involve more than 400 investors and alleged losses of HK$50 million. The wine investment circles here refer to the man as “Christopher Koo”.
When contacted, a Singapore police spokesman said: “It is inappropriate to comment on police investigations, if any.”
Investors MediaCorp spoke to have expressed frustration at the uncertainty. One of them, who only wanted to be identified as Francois, said his only point of contact is his PLA broker, who told him to “wait” pending internal and external investigations. The French national said he has invested about S$29,000 in wine portfolios through PLA since 2009.
Although the lights were switched on when MediaCorp visited PLA’s Ngee Ann City office on Monday, no one answered the door when this reporter rang the doorbell.
Some investors have turned to legal experts for help. Lawyer Sean La’Brooy, from Wee, Tay & Lim LLP, was approached by about 20 PLA investors on Monday and he is now “exploring legal options” with them. Other investors have held preliminary talks with provisional liquidators and asset recovery firms.
It is believed there are between 100 and 400 PLA investors in Singapore, with investment amounts ranging from between S$7,000 and S$160,000.
The Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) has received one complaint since March regarding PLA, but the consumer body’s executive director Seah Seng Choon said the consumer body does not oversee investment-related matters.
Wine investments are also not regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, noted Mr Seah.
A check with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) showed PLA as a S$300,000 paid-up limited exempt private company which was incorporated in 2005.
The records list a Mr Woo Kuan Yong as a director. When MediaCorp visited his flat on Wednesday, Mr Woo told MediaCorp that he was asked by his step-son, Mr Eldric Ko, to “register the company” but he has never been to the firm’s office.
Mr Woo’s wife said she last spoke to Mr Ko, who had called from Bangkok in April.
She added that subsequent attempts to contact him on his Singapore mobile phone have been unsuccessful thus far. A week after news of a police probe into an alleged investment scam involving Premium Liquid Assets’ (PLA) Hong Kong office hit the headlines in the territory, Singapore investors of the locally-incorporated wine investment company are also searching for answers about their investments.
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Former taxi driver sentenced to jail for 16 months
SINGAPORE —
But temptation got the better of him.
He decided to keep the haversack containing valuables and the equivalent of more than S$40,000 in cash for himself.
The stocky, bespectacled Jaffar, 38, was sentenced yesterday to 16 months’ jail for dishonest misappropriation of property as well as two other drug-related charges.
The haversack belonged to Japanese researcher Kenji Ohwaki, who had accidentally left it behind after he got off a taxi at Terminal 2 at around 10.25pm that day.
Jaffar, who arrived 20 minutes later, saw the haversack, took it and drove away.
Mr Ohwaki, 44, lodged a report about his missing haversack with airport police about three hours later. Three days later, airport police raided Jaffar’s flat at Block 202 Tampines Street 21.
Close to S$8,500 were recovered.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Qiu Huixiang told the court that Jaffar had used the rest of the money to pay for items such as his personal expenses and taxi rental.
Police also found two packets containing a crystalline substance, later found to contain methamphetamine, or ice in his possession.
The same drug was also detected in his urine samples.
Jaffar admitted that he had last consumed “ice” just a day before his arrest. Taxi driver Jaffar Kassim could have surrendered it to his company’s lost-and-found department: A green haversack that he had found lying on the floor near a Changi Airport drop-off point on Feb 19.
Shaffiq Alkhatib
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Some DBSS flats at Centrale 8
in Tampines priced at s$880,000
SINGAPORE
In a central location within a mature estate, Centrale 8’s 708 units in Tampines range from S$397,000 to S$510,000 for a three-room flat, to S$685,000 and S$880,000 for a fivebedroom unit. Four-bedroom flats will cost between S$531,000 to S$683,000.
For S$880,000 — or S$750 per sq ft for a five-bedroom flat — a household could buy a private property in Pasir Ris or Flora Road, where the properties are going for around S$750 to S$800 per sq ft, said Propnex chief executive Mohamad Ismail.
“I’m concerned that the prices of these flats seem to be even higher than the resale flats immediately available in Tampines,” he said, noting that the most expensive three room unit cost S$764 per sq ft — more than a typical five-room flat.
He added: “Looking at the pricing of this DBSS, this is going to be a benchmark for newly-built public housing, and is likely to put more pressure on the resale market.”
Located at the junction of Tampines Avenue and Tampines Central 8, the 227,461 sq ft DBSS development by Sim Lian Group comprises 182 three-bedroom units, 348 four-room apartments and 178 five-bedroom units.
The three-room flats range from 657 to 667 sq ft while the four-room units range between 893 sq ft to 904 sq ft. The five-room apartments are from 1,163 sq ft to 1,173 sq ft.
Comparatively, they can still afford a condominium in the suburban area, but this is very well-located, with all the new amenities. So I think the prices are reasonable.
Sim Lian Group
executive director Kuik Sing Beng — Prices of flats released under the Housing and Development Board’s (HDB) latest Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) have raised eyebrows among some analysts.
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‘BTO applicants’ profiles justify higher income ceiling’
Ong Dai Lin
dailin@mediacorp.com.sg
SINGAPORE
In last month’s Build-to-Order (BTO) exercise, more than half of the first-timers had applied under HDB’s Fiance-Fiancee Scheme and had a median age of 27. For the other first-time applicants, who are already married, their median age was 34.
“There is therefore justification to revise the HDB income ceiling, giving the rising ages of applicants,” Mr Khaw wrote on his housing blog.
CEILING RAISED on OLDER AGE rather than HIGHER INCOME ? ? ? ? — His predecessor had announced the review and, yesterday, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan gave the numbers to suggest that the income ceiling for new Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats will, indeed, be raised from the present S$8,000.
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SINGAPORE
If the proposed Rapid Transit System Link between Singapore and Johor Baru goes according to plan, the two lines will be integrated at the TSL’s northern-most terminal station, which the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced yesterday: At a site near Republic Polytechnic.
The station will be north of the Woodlands MRT Station, which will be the future interchange for the Thomson and North South lines, the LTA said.
Further details of the TSL, such as its alignment and the sites of other stations, will be released after detailed engineering studies are completed.
The four-carriage trains that will ply the fully underground line will be able to transport 40,000 passengers per hour in each direction. The new line was reported in 2008 to have 18 stations and will bring commuters to the Marina Bay area, passing through estates such as Ang Mo Kio, Sin Ming and Thomson.
With LTA’s announcement, Dennis Wee Group director Chris Koh expects property prices near the future terminal station to rise once the Rapid Transit System Link is completed.
Citing the heavy passenger movement between Singapore and Johor Baru daily, Mr Koh said: “I won’t be surprised if prices go up by five to 10 per cent easily.”
The LTA has also gazetted a site in Mandai for TSL’s depot. Construction on the 32-hectare depot, set to be the largest here, will begin at the end of next year.
Singapore’s fifth train depot — after Bishan, Changi, Ulu Pandan and Tuas (to be completed in 2016) — will house up to 90 trains.
As a result, the 43-hectare Orchidville farm — equivalent to the size of 60 football fields — will have to move. It has been on a 20-year lease from the Government since 1993.
Its owner Joseph Phua, 56, who will be entitled to statutory compensation under the Land Acquisition Act, told MediaCorp yesterday that over half of the 1.5 million plants — including some rare ones costing up to S$600 each — at the farm may have to be disposed of.
He also said he will likely have to downsize his operations to a fifth of what it is now, as it would be difficult to find a equivalent-size piece of land. The farm, which employs about 100 workers, will then have to retrench some employees.
Mr Phua will meet the authorities next month to discuss compensation and hopes to secure an alternative site in Mandai. He also hopes the cost of relocating could be defrayed.
“There are so many plants for us to move and to develop the piece of land isn’t a matter of one month or two months. (The application process) already takes more than six months ... for a piece of land,” he said.
Mr Phua said the farm, which receives about seven to eight tour groups a day and has a restaurant for corporate functions, will remain open till the end of next year. — Residents in Woodlands could see greater interest in their properties, while Singapore’s largest orchid farm in Mandai will have to relocate, following the latest plans for the 30-kilometre Thomson Line (TSL) that will start running by 2018.
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Thomson Line to terminate
near Republic Polytechnic
Neo Chai Chin and Wayne Chan
chaichin@mediacorp.com.sg
It will integrate with rail system to Johor
land for depot in Mandai gazetted
If the proposed Rapid Transit System Link between Singapore and Johor Baru goes according to plan, the two lines will be integrated at the TSL’s northern-most terminal station.
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By Channel NewsAsia, Updated: 17/06/2011
Expat alleges overcharging by Boat Quay seafood restaurant
Forum Seafood along Boat Quay which charged $1,107.32 for a lunch for two persons. (TODAY Photo)
SINGAPORE: Company director Ian McArthur could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the bill for lunch with his friend on Wednesday: It came up to $1,107.32, including S$348.80 for a 1.6kg lobster and $564 for a 3kg crab.
The Scot, who has been working here since last October, told TODAY: " I thought, ’It must be wrong. I can’t believe this.’"
Mr McArthur then approached the staff of Forum Seafood Village — a restaurant at Boat Quay — seeking an explanation. He was told that those were the market prices.
But Mr McArthur told TODAY that the staff did not inform them how much the crustaceans weighed or the total cost before cooking the food. " It wasn’t just the price. We feel that we were misled that’s why we were upset about it," he added.
Apart from the king crab and lobster, Mr McArthur and his friend had a plate of fried rice and four glasses of beer.
Alleging that he was " grossly overcharged" , Mr McArthur filed a complaint with the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) on Wednesday against the restaurant, seeking a S$900 refund.
But Mr Vincent Hoh, a restaurant employee who served Mr McArthur, said he told the diners the crustaceans’ weight. When asked if he told the diners the total cost of the crustaceans, Mr Hoh replied he did not.
Forum Seafood Village manager Jo Chia said the restaurant does not usually inform diners of the total price of their seafood, unless diners ask for it.
Said Ms Chia: " We tried to tell customers (the total price) but some guests say it’s too troublesome and tell us not to bother them."
Some patrons have also commented that, by informing them of the total price, the staff would be suggesting that they could not afford it, Mr Hoh said.
Ms Chia pointed out the restaurant’s seafood prices are listed clearly — according to cost per 100g — at the restaurant’s entrance and on the menu. " Our prices are market prices. We won’t overcharge our customers," she said.
Ms Chia said the restaurant’s owner is overseas and has not decided on its course of action with regard to the complaint.
Forum Seafood Village, which operates two outlets along Boat Quay, charges S$21.80 per 100g for the Australian lobster and S$18.80 per 100g for the king crab, after discounts. The usual prices were S$32 and S$25 per 100g for the lobster and king crab, respectively.
A check with neighbouring restaurants found one restaurant charging S$18.80 per 100g for the Australian lobster and another charging S$10 per 100g for Alaskan King Crab.
Responding to TODAY’s queries, CASE said it has received 12 complaints for overcharging by food and beverage outlets in the first five months of this year. There were 27 complaints last year, up from 15 in 2009. —
TODAY
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By Channel NewsAsia, Updated: 17/06/2011
Expat alleges overcharging by Boat Quay seafood restaurant
Forum Seafood along Boat Quay which charged $1,107.32 for a lunch for two persons. (TODAY Photo)
SINGAPORE: Company director Ian McArthur could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the bill for lunch with his friend on Wednesday: It came up to $1,107.32, including S$348.80 for a 1.6kg lobster and $564 for a 3kg crab.
The Scot, who has been working here since last October, told TODAY: " I thought, ’It must be wrong. I can’t believe this.’"
Mr McArthur then approached the staff of Forum Seafood Village — a restaurant at Boat Quay — seeking an explanation. He was told that those were the market prices.
But Mr McArthur told TODAY that the staff did not inform them how much the crustaceans weighed or the total cost before cooking the food. " It wasn’t just the price. We feel that we were misled that’s why we were upset about it," he added.
Apart from the king crab and lobster, Mr McArthur and his friend had a plate of fried rice and four glasses of beer.
Alleging that he was " grossly overcharged" , Mr McArthur filed a complaint with the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) on Wednesday against the restaurant, seeking a S$900 refund.
But Mr Vincent Hoh, a restaurant employee who served Mr McArthur, said he told the diners the crustaceans’ weight. When asked if he told the diners the total cost of the crustaceans, Mr Hoh replied he did not.
Forum Seafood Village manager Jo Chia said the restaurant does not usually inform diners of the total price of their seafood, unless diners ask for it.
Said Ms Chia: " We tried to tell customers (the total price) but some guests say it’s too troublesome and tell us not to bother them."
Some patrons have also commented that, by informing them of the total price, the staff would be suggesting that they could not afford it, Mr Hoh said.
Ms Chia pointed out the restaurant’s seafood prices are listed clearly — according to cost per 100g — at the restaurant’s entrance and on the menu. " Our prices are market prices. We won’t overcharge our customers," she said.
Ms Chia said the restaurant’s owner is overseas and has not decided on its course of action with regard to the complaint.
Forum Seafood Village, which operates two outlets along Boat Quay, charges S$21.80 per 100g for the Australian lobster and S$18.80 per 100g for the king crab, after discounts. The usual prices were S$32 and S$25 per 100g for the lobster and king crab, respectively.
A check with neighbouring restaurants found one restaurant charging S$18.80 per 100g for the Australian lobster and another charging S$10 per 100g for Alaskan King Crab.
Responding to TODAY’s queries, CASE said it has received 12 complaints for overcharging by food and beverage outlets in the first five months of this year. There were 27 complaints last year, up from 15 in 2009. —
TODAY
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By David Weidner, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Anthony Weiner has put us men in a pickle.
Why is it that men so often self-destruct? In the political world, Weiner joins Eliot Spitzer, Bill Clinton, John Ensign, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and John Edwards as hypocritic slime balls who let their pants set their personal policy.
But it’s not just politics. Todd Thomson, young, married, chief financial officer at Citigroup Inc. /quotes/zigman/5065548/quotes/nls/c C +0.74% , was embroiled in a scandal a few years ago with money honey Maria Bartiromo of CNBC. Her career survived. His didn’t.
Reuters
Women are better investors.
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There’s Dominique Strauss-Kahn of the International Monetary Fund, who’s accused of sexual assault. There’s James McDermott, who was CEO of Keefe Bruyette & Woods until his dalliance with a porn star named Marylyn Star embarrassed him out of the company.
We men just make bad decisions. We can't help it. We’re men.
Women on the other hand do almost everything better. We’ve known this intuitively for a long time. If you didn’t, just ask your wife or mother. But now there’s a raft of evidence out there that suggests women are better at everything, including investing.
A new study by Barclays Capital and Ledbury Research found that women were more likely to make money in the market mostly because they didn’t take as many risks, they bought and held. Women trade this way because they aren’t as confident — or perhaps overconfident — as men, the study found.
GOP presidential contenders take the stage in New Hampshire Monday evening in the first nationally televised debate of the election season. Among them, Rep. Michele Bachmann. WSJ's Neil King previews. Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
“Women were more likely than men to have a greater desire for self-control,” the study concluded.
In other words, they trade less and earn more.
“Women tend to have lower composure and a greater desire for financial self-control, which is associated with a desire to use self-control strategies. Women are also more likely to believe that these strategies are effective.”
And you know what? They were.
The study supported previous findings that women tend to make more. A 2005 study by Merrill Lynch found that 35% of women held an investment too long, compared to 47% of men. Moreover, an academic study in 2009 found women made 1% more annually.
Chun Xia, a finance professor based in Hong Kong and one of the researchers, wrote that women reported a greater desire for self-control in their approach to financial management. They are likely to get stressed more easily and their awareness partially accounts for their greater desire for financial discipline.
However, the report said, it is men who actually have a greater need for discipline when it comes to investment management, as they tend to be overconfident in investing.
This probably doesn’t come as a shock to anyone. A new body of evidence is emerging that shows women are better at just about everything or, as Dan Abrams has titled his new book “Man Down: Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt That Women Are Better Cops, Drivers, Gamblers, Spies, World Leaders, Beer Tasters, Hedge Fund Managers, and Just About Everything Else.”
As Abrams notes, women are better soldiers because they complain about pain less. They’re less likely to be hit by lightning because they’re not stupid enough to stand outside. They remember words and faces better. They’re better spies because they’re better at getting people to talk candidly.
Look at the evidence: Hillary Clinton has proved a more-than capable secretary of state. Elizabeth Warren has been a leading champion against the banks. Sheila Bair, a chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., has played hardball with the boys club.
And what about Sarah Palin? There were 24,000 emails released this weekend and not one crotch shot.
This is deflating news for us men, but there is hope. We still lead the field in an important category, one that women are woefully behind in: We still lead the field in self-destructing because of pride, overconfidence, hubris and ego.
So, go ahead ladies. Make the money. You’re better at it. We men will just make inappropriate comments, send you lewd photos and make asses of ourselves. That’s why we created Facebook and Twitter.
It’s what we’re good at.
David Weidner covers Wall Street for MarketWatch.
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Overview
So easy to trade with iBanking.
DBS is pleased to be the first bank in Singapore to offer access to Online Trading Services through iBanking. iBanking directly links you to DBS Vickers Online, the internet trading platform of DBS Vickers Securities.
Enjoy 1 commission-free* trade with every 3 cash upfront trades with DBS Vickers Online. You can also make the most of the following services from DBS Vickers Online when you login to iBanking to use the Online Trading Services:
- Trade in Singapore and selected foreign markets
- Get the latest stock prices and other market information
- Access research reports on companies listed on the Singapore Exchange from DBS Vickers Research
- Monitor market trends and research potential stock investments using the decision support tool DBSVOClarity and more…
Other than settlement via cash, when you trade using iBanking's Online Trading Services, you can also settle via cash upfront which allows you to fund your trading account by transferring funds from your DBS or POSB account to your DBS Vickers Online trading account, in real-time.
Cash upfront trading provides you with the benefits of:
- Hassle-free settlement
You do not have the hassle of remembering settlement dates and issuing payment. Purchases and sales proceeds will be automatically debited from / credited to your DBS Vickers Online trading account.
- Real-time cash top up
Transfer funds from your DBS or POSB account to your DBS Vickers Online trading account in real-time to enjoy the flexibility of managing your trading limit.
- Convenient online funds withdrawal
Unutilised funds may be withdrawn by submitting funds withdrawal instructions online.
- Lower commission rate
Preferential commission rate of 0.18% or minimum S$18 for all Singapore trades.
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Our new DBS Vickers online form makes it a breeze for you to sign up now, simply click on the
Sign up for Vickers Online button.
Alternatively if you are an existing iBanking customer, you can access this Vickers online form via the iBanking portal. Simply login to iBanking.
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