Back

AVA says S’pore doesn’t import beverages recalled in Taiwan

The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) says it does not import beverages that were recalled in Taiwan recently.

Taiwan said that nearly half a million bottles of drinks have been removed from shelves over fears they contain a chemical used in plastics called DEHP.

They include more than 460,000 bottles of sports drinks and fruit juice, as well as 20 tonnes of fruit and yogurt powder and 130,000 packs of probiotic powder have been recalled.

If consumed, DEHP can affect the hormone balance in young people.

As a precautionary measure, AVA told MediaCorp that it will be testing other beverages from Taiwan available in Singapore for DEHP.

Singapore imports more than 100 brands of beverages from Taiwan such as the " Allswell starfruit drink" , " Gong fruit juice" and " Lucky Tree fruit juice" .

AVA has advised consumers to discard the affected products if they had purchased them outside of Singapore.

Good Post Bad Post

26-May-2011 08:57 Raffles Edu / Bungee Jumping without rope Go to Message

x 0

raf·fle² (r

Rubbish debris.

[Probably from French rafle, act of seizing, from Old French see raffle¹.]

Good Post Bad Post

26-May-2011 08:52 User Research/Opinions / your biggest worries? Go to Message

x 0
x 0 TRUE MERITOCRACY can only be achieved when PUBLIC puts FULL PRESSURE on

GOVERNANCE to be

NO FRILLS

Good Post Bad Post

26-May-2011 08:50 SIA / SIA Go to Message

x 0

Updated: 25/05/2011

SIA to set up new no-frills airline

Singapore Airlines (SIA) has announced its intention to establish a new no-frills, low-fare airline which will operate wide-body aircraft on medium and long-haul routes.

It says the new airline is being established following extensive review and analysis.

SIA says it will enable the group to serve a largely untapped new market and cater to the growing demand among consumers for low-fare travel.

Operations are expected to begin within one year.

The airline will be wholly-owned by Singapore Airlines, but will be operated independently and managed separately.

SIA CEO Goh Choon Phong said there's a new market segment being created and this will provide another growth opportunity for the Group.

He said low-fare airlines flying short-haul routes within Asia, has helped stimulate demand for travel.

Mr Goh says he expects this will also prove true for longer flights.

More details will be announced by the new airline's management team in due course, including its branding, products and services, and route network.

Aviation analyst from Standard and Poor's, Shukor Yusof, expects air fares on the new no-frills carrier to be some 20 to 30 per cent cheaper compared to current SIA economy class fares.

" These are fares that are going to capture imagination or going to be attractive to younger people, or to people who are more price-conscious, and who expect better service than what some of the other carriers are offering right now. SIA coming out with this airline would mean a stronger, more efficient, better-run airline that's got a very strong management, that's got the infrastructure, the huge resources required to take a lot of business from its rivals."

SIA already runs a short-haul mid-price airline called SilkAir, and owns 32.9 percent of budget carrier Tiger Airways.

SIA has been OVER CHARGING with OVER FRiLLs ? ? ? ?

Singaporeans OVER PAYING for National Officials' Travel ? ? ? ?

Meritocracy is tOO frilled ? ? ? ?

Good Post Bad Post

26-May-2011 08:45 User Research/Opinions / your biggest worries? Go to Message

x 0

Updated: 25/05/2011

SIA to set up new no-frills airline

SIA has been OVER CHARGING ? ? ? ?

Singaporeans OVER PAYING for National Officials' Travel ? ? ? ?

Meritocracy is tOO frIlls ? ? ? ?

TRUE MERITOCRACY can only be achieved when PUBLIC puts FULL PRESSURE on GOVERNANCE.

Good Post Bad Post

26-May-2011 08:37 User Research/Opinions / your biggest worries? Go to Message

x 0

By Channel NewsAsia, Updated: 25/05/2011

Low Thia Khiang on handover of Aljunied Town Council

Low Thia Khiang

SINGAPORE : Workers’ Party secretary—general, Low Thia Khiang, has said it may be one or two months before the handover of Aljunied Town Council is completed.

Mr Low was speaking at the start of his first meet—the—people session at his division of Bedok Reservoir—Punggol of the Aljunied GRC.

It is his first in a new constituency, after 20 years as MP of Hougang, and he promised to do his best for the residents.

When Mr Low arrived just after 7.30pm on Wednesday, a large crowd had already gathered — some just there to say hello.

The Workers’ Party will merge Aljunied and Hougang town councils, and the new entity will be chaired by party chairman Sylvia Lim.

Mr Low said existing staff will have priority if they wish to stay on, but the town council will also be hiring new staff.

He added that he will work with grassroots organisations (GROs) under the People’s Association.

Mr Low said: " I’ve worked with the GROs in Hougang, so whoever will be the advisor, whether it’s an ex—MP or potential MP, I have no issues. As long as they’re prepared to work for the benefit of residents, I’m prepared to work (with them)."

The new town councils will be gazetted on Friday, but Mr Low said it will be one or two months before the Workers’ Party MPs can take over the operations of Aljunied Town Council.

Some of the outstanding issues include completing an audit of accounts, as well as sorting out contracts with existing vendors.

— CNA/al

Good Post Bad Post

25-May-2011 19:06 User Research/Opinions / your biggest worries? Go to Message

x 0

Shanne

|220.255.7.166 |2010-08-03 08:40:35

Wilfred,

I thought you are like that Tan KL who won't post opposite view. For that I thank you and see you quite differently now.

For the record, I am an advocate of term insurance cos don't really believe in paying too much into insurance policies.

But I seriously think that Vivolife, or better still, TM Legacy (LP) (Plus or no Plus doesn't really matter), is a decent plan as far as lifetime CI risk is concerned. These plans are far much better than their ancestors in terms of pricing and features. They are some of the very few plans that are still of decent value and sellable (I hope they can stay abit longer cos many good plans had been withdrawn from the market).

A standalone CI term plan can be very expensive. Cost/benefit ratio is not good, at best to temporary boost up cover only. I think one still need some CI cover post retirement, don't you think so?

I really concern for the many thousands readers of Tan KL, who doesn't really know what's decent and what's not. He doesn't really know what he's talking about. Asking people like him to buy Medishield will do. The rest can pay from savings. Telling people no need to buy travel insurance cos chance of accident very slim. Everything is buy term and invest in ETFs blah blah blah. Blind leading the blind, sigh. Lagi jialat, very hard sell his books and always trying to push them down people's throats.

On a serious note, for someone who bites the hand that fed him, that tells something about his character. He's a bitter old man..

Good Post Bad Post

25-May-2011 19:04 User Research/Opinions / your biggest worries? Go to Message

x 0

Sham - yahoo

|220.255.7.222 |2010-08-03 07:07:26

It is too expensive as protection plan. That premium you pay can insure you 10/20 times. Isn't waht insurance is for, right?
What vivolife protects will shrink in 25 years ' time . Why keep a shrivelled vivolife ? And it is NOT for protecting you when you are old. Stupid , every will die. So? sure claim? is what vivolife is for ? I bet as many as 90% don't keep beyond their retirement age. If every body keeps till claim NTUC will go bankrupt because ntuc has to pay 70% more than what they provided for in their premium calculation.But they are not bums because they know historically all consumers are the dumb ones and 90% will cancel even though they don't have to pay premium. The cash value is too 'tempting' and if they don't cash it out it will disappear into the pockets of the ntuc in the form of very high mortality charge. NOw , you all get it?

Good Post Bad Post

25-May-2011 19:02 User Research/Opinions / your biggest worries? Go to Message

x 0

Garrett

|68.40.190.254 |2010-08-02 06:23:01

I think you should redo the calcs for a young person (mid-20s person) instead of an age 0 person.

For Male, 23, $100k, pay for 25 years, the premium is $1921/yr. Assume surrender after 25 years. At 3.75%, projected sum is $61k and 5.25% projected sum is 71k). That's a IRR of 1.8% (for 3.75% projection) and IRR of 2.9% (for 5.25% projection)!

Assuming surrender after 40 years (at age 63 near retirement), the IRR is 2.5% and 3.3% for each respective projection!

Good Post Bad Post

25-May-2011 19:00 User Research/Opinions / your biggest worries? Go to Message

x 0
x 0 http://www.wilfredling.com/content/view/1226/9/

Today I decided to do some calculation on Vivolife. Why? Because I’ve been hearing that this is a very lousy whole life that gives poor value for money. But Vivolife is a whole life policy that is never meant for savings and yet people continue to calculate its yield like as if it is a saving plan. Anyway, I decided to calculate the yield if it is treated like a saving plan (when in reality it is NOT).

Parameters: Last age 0, female, limited premium 15 years of $1427 annual premium for sum assured $120,000 with $150,000 as the minimum death benefit for the first 15 years.

Iteration #1:
Assumptions:
Gross Yield 3.75%
Surrender at end of 25 years.

According to the BI, FV at the end of 25 years is 35,645. Therefore, IRR = 2.83%. Therefore, expense ratio = 3.75-2.83=0.92%.

Iteration #2:
Assumptions:
Gross Yield 5.25%
Surrender at end of 25 years.

According to the BI, FV at the end of 25 years is 41,846. Therefore, IRR = 3.72%. Therefore, expense ratio = 5.25-3.72=1.53%.

Iteration #3:
Assumptions:
Gross Yield 3.75%
Surrender at end of 65 years.

According to the BI, FV at the end of 65 years is 143,008. Therefore, IRR = 3.31%. Therefore, expense ratio = 0.44%%.

Iteration #4:
Assumptions:
Gross Yield 5.25%
Surrender at end of 65 years.

According to the BI, FV at the end of 65 years is 244,249. Therefore, IRR = 4.26%. Therefore, expense ratio = 0.99%.

I consider the expense ratio to be acceptability low as the expense ratio is inclusive of the mortality and morbidity charges. Conclusion: Based on the above iteration I consider the expense ratio to be good enough and hence Vivolife is not lousy. If in doubt, always consult your financial adviser and please don’t send me 10 benefit illustrations to analyse.

For calculations, download this excel sheet: HERE (client only, login required)

Good Post Bad Post

25-May-2011 18:57 User Research/Opinions / your biggest worries? Go to Message

x 0
x 0 WALTON LANDBANKING ? ? ? ?

http://www.waltoninternational.com/

Good Post Bad Post

25-May-2011 18:55 User Research/Opinions / your biggest worries? Go to Message

x 0
x 0 As long as the company is allowed by law to collect money from Singaporeans in tbe name of investments, Singaporeans must be protected.

Otherwise, why the other hand Singaporeans staying in HDB are not allowed by law to buy foreign properties.

Good Post Bad Post

25-May-2011 18:51 Genting Sing / GenSp starts to move up again Go to Message

x 0
x 0 BoAML - Genting S'pore (24 May)

.. Buy on current weakness valuations relatively attractive
Genting Singapore’s share price declined almost 10% the last two weeks, post the release of its 1Q11 results as well as its US$60mn investment into Goldnature Investments. We consider the stock to be particularly attractive on weakness. Its 13x/11x EV/EBITDA for 2011E/12E is in line with the regional average while its 21x/17x P/E for 2011E/12E is at a 5-10% discount to peers.

US$60mn investment – more to it than meets the eye?
While we appreciate and concur with investors’ concerns on utilization of S$2bn cash on an apparently unrelated investment in a natural resource firm, our view is based only on disclosed (very little) public information. Looking at the history of the group, it has had a decent record of identifying and making seed investments on a strategic basis to position itself favorably in jurisdictions that could liberalize gaming activities (e.g., the investment into a Sri Lankan bank in May 2010).
Given the historical experience of minority shareholders, it was important that management clarified in our recent conference that the stake buy in Goldnature is not a related party transaction. It is driven by management and is not significant at S$0.006 per share, or less than 4% of its existing cash hoard.

Still significant growth opportunities in the VIP segment
While the VIP roll in RWS was down 12% sequentially, we believe investors
cannot look at the number on a standalone basis and have to look at it relative to other matrices such as GGR (+19% Q/Q) and net win (+51% Q/Q). While mass market in Singapore has probably reached a steady state with sequential growth of 10% in 1Q11, we believe there are still significant growth opportunities in the VIP segment where RWS is still building up its capacity to fully tap by 2012.

Good Post Bad Post

25-May-2011 13:32 User Research/Opinions / your biggest worries? Go to Message

x 0

Profitable Plots case prompts SIAS

to urge regulation of land banking

JO-ANN HUAN G

joannhuang@mediacorp.com.sg

The disgruntled investors claim that the company has not been transparent in its dealings, with repeated queries about their land banking investments to the firm’s directors falling on deaf ears.

Profitable Plots — best known for its television commercials featuring former football stars urging viewers to buy British land — is currently under investigation here by the Commercial Affairs Department for failing to meet investors’ payments.

After a discussion yesterday with investors who have issues with Profitable Plots, SIAS president David Gerald said:

“It is an alternative investment but many investors are depending on higher returns.

“And foreigners, it seems, can just set up a business like this and take money from Singaporeans and others around the region, who have great confidence in the Singapore brand name and the fact that we are well regulated and laws are enforced strictly.”

More than 200 complaints have been filed against Profitable Plots for amounts totalling more than S$23 million and SIAS has called on the directors of the British firm to have a dialogue session with investors.

But lawyers say a regulatory framework for land banking investments will be hard to enforce. They say buying an interest in foreign undeveloped land is currently unregulated here, just like buying an overseas property.

“If it is structured as a sale-of-land interest, then in a sense it is no different from the sale of foreign properties in Singapore.

These days there are foreign developers selling bungalows and apartments in Singapore. All these are sale of interest in foreign properties, so land banking could be seen as a sale of interest in foreign undeveloped land as well,” said Mr Chia Kim Huat, partner at law firm Rajah & Tann.

Both SIAS and law firms remind investors to practise due diligence before investing in any kind of high-risk assets.SINGAPORE — The Securities Investors Association Singapore (SIAS) has called for the strict regulation of land banking investments, after hundreds of investors here filed complaints against British firm Profitable Plots.

Good Post Bad Post

First < Newer 1761-1780 of 13894 Older> Last

ShareJunction Version: 27 Nov 2020 ver - All Rights Reserved. Copyright ShareJunction Pte. Ltd. Disclaimer: All prices from are delayed. ShareJunction does not provide you with any financial advice. We are not into the business of providing any investment advice. See our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy of using this website. Data is delayed for varying periods of time depending on the exchange, but for at least 15 minutes. Copyright © SIX Financial Information Ltd. and its licensors. All Rights reserved. Further distribution and use by third parties prohibited. SIX Financial Information and its licensors make no warranty for information displayed and accept no liability for data and prices. SIX Financial Information reserves the right to adapt and/or alter this website at any time without prior notice.

Web design by FoundationFlux. Hosted with Signetique Cloud.