I'm convinced, that there must be something more than this.
Yes, something more than just getting up early in the morning,
Rushing from point to point,
Calling friends up for a quick supper;
Yes, there must be something more beyond what I see, and even beyond what I can foresee.
Don't be anxious,
Don't be impatient,
You will begin to see a new light with every little step you take.
Your life is purposed for greatness;
Greatness not in your own measure,
But greatness according to His destiny for you.
Take that step forward.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Find Joy In The Rain...
aRE YOu HAvING A rainy DAY?
There will always be sunshine after the rain. Remember the rainbow. =)
There will always be sunshine after the rain. Remember the rainbow. =)
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Fellowship
Is fellowship = quality time? Not necessary. Not all the time.
Why spend that much to travel all the way just to meet up for that few hours of activities with laughter and travel all the way back with all the additional expenses and less sleep? I wonder about that too.
Is this the kind of "quality time" we seek? I suppose it's a matter of relativity. Not so to me at least. I will watch the way I spend my time.
I don't think I'll be too tired to meet up, no matter how late it is. Seems like again it's a matter of relativity. Ppl may just get too tired to do so.
Why spend that much to travel all the way just to meet up for that few hours of activities with laughter and travel all the way back with all the additional expenses and less sleep? I wonder about that too.
Is this the kind of "quality time" we seek? I suppose it's a matter of relativity. Not so to me at least. I will watch the way I spend my time.
I don't think I'll be too tired to meet up, no matter how late it is. Seems like again it's a matter of relativity. Ppl may just get too tired to do so.
Monday, September 10, 2007
News Brief - 11 Sep 2007, Tuesday
PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT - Property giant CapitaLand and a church-linked business company, Rock Productions, announced yesterday that they will jointly develop an integrated complex in Singapore's one-north science hub at a cost of $660 million. CapitaLand's share of the proposed development will be about $380 million. Rock Productions - the business arm of the 16,000- strong New Creation Church - will invest $280 million.
The project came about after JTC Corporation last Friday awarded Rock Productions the tender to build, lease and operate an integrated civic, cultural, retail and entertainment hub at Vista Xchange on a 60-year lease at a land price of $189 million.
New Creation Church, which now holds its services at The Rock Auditorium at Suntec City, will be the anchor tenant of the theatre, using the space on a large part of Sundays and one mid-week night, said Rock Productions director Matthew Kang.
Rock Productions also owns and manages The Rock Auditorium and Marine Cove, the recreational and dining establishment at East Coast Park.
~ ST, Sep 10, 2007.
QUOTES - The current 21st century tourism trends point towards Singapore as a major Asian destination. The key is to support the idea for a 'prime hub' beyond mere rhetoric. This means physical and social infrastructure support for Singapore as a unique attraction among regional tourists.
I envision Singapore as the 'global city of Asia' - a 'clean and green' masterplanned city-state with world-class infrastructure, strategically managed accommodation, global connectivity, vibrant enterprises, unique and exciting shopping and culinary experiences, and a melting pot for diverse cultures.
It is critical for planners and policy-makers to harness internal and external resources towards sustaining and supporting this positioning with the flood of tourists expected in the days ahead. Most importantly, our continued competitiveness in this area will have to be found in the regional links we can forge to benefit from the flow of tourism in the region.
~ Dora Hoan, Group CEO, Best World International Ltd. Business Times - 10 Sep 2007.
RETAIL - WingTai Asia Group subsidiary Wing Tai Branded Lifestyle has added furniture and home decor stores to its retail offerings.
Making its debut at with a 2,500 sq ft store in Raffles City, Zone Singapore is a one-stop store for home, bathroom, kitchen and office ware - the first franchise store in Asia for a Danish brand founded by Poul Jepsen. The 2,000-plus products are categorised into PersonalZone (bath accessories), LivingZone (living area), FoodZone (kitchen) and WorkZone (office).
Helen Khoo, executive director of Wing Tai Branded Lifestyle, says that Zone is an extension of the group's lifestyle activities. 'Shopping for the home has also become like buying fashion. Home furnishing is an expression of the owner's personality. We had to look for the right partner to bring in - and Zone was just what we were looking for.'
Zone is located at Raffles City, #03-25.
~ Business Times - 08 Sep 2007.
FASHION & DESIGN - Imitations are estimated to represent at least 5 per cent of the US$181 billion US apparel market. Critics of designers even argue that copies are good for fashion because they encourage designers to continuously invent new wares to stay ahead. A reliable estimate of knock-offs cannot be determined because designers and retailers disagree on which clothes are copies and which merely 'inspired' by a trend, a normal part of the fashion food chain.
~ TNP - 08 Sep 2007.
HR & TRAINING - An official survey on staff training shows that big companies are benefiting strongly from their extensive training, even though there are fewer immediate benefits for the staff members themselves.
Larger companies tended to be more likely to provide training for their staff; 96 per cent of companies with 250 or more staff sent people for training, while the percentage came down to 86 per cent for those with 100-249 workers, and 66 per cent for companies with fewer than 100 employees.
By sector, among the highest training participation rate was in construction (91 per cent), hotels (86 per cent), financial services (85 per cent) and companies in professional services (81 per cent). Retailers (50 per cent) and restaurants (39 per cent) were among the least enthusiastic about training, possibly because these sectors have a high reliance on temporary or part-time workers who are trained on the job.
~ Business Times - 08 Sep 2007.
QUOTES - When Singapore was young and poor, its civil servants worked like warriors. 'We spent 10 per cent of our time thinking, and the rest of the time doing - knocking on doors, asking people to invest in Singapore,' said Mr Ngiam Tong Dow, speaking at the Distinguished Speakers Lecture series, organised by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry yesterday.
Now that the country is prosperous, its civil servants sometimes behave like scholars. 'More thinking than doing,' said Mr Ngiam. 'If there is a problem, you call in the consultants,' he said, half-jokingly, to laughter from the 150 or so people at the Ritz Carlton ballroom. He observed that Singaporeans today could go into fine dining restaurants and know enough to order the best foods and wines. 'But if I asked you to do something practical, like fry an omelette, could you do it?'
He contrasted the 'warriors' of old with the civil servants of today. 'Scholars and warriors - you've got to be both,' he said.
In the early days, he said, Singapore didn't mind what jobs it was offered - it took them all, 'high-tech, low-tech or no tech'. Today, it is a financial centre that manages billions of dollars for foreign banks. It has high-value manufacturing sectors such as wafer fab. It is also an international hub for oil and other commodities.
Singapore, Mr Ngiam said, had expertise in many areas - from oil rigs to research in life sciences, from nanotechnology to media animation. But most of all, its forte is public administration. While the basics of government are incorruptibility and integrity, he said it is good administration that will 'deliver the public goods and services'.
~ TNP - 09 September 2007.
FASHION & DESIGN - Ermenegildo Zegna stands out from the luxury menswear crowd in its steadfast refusal, so far, to go into ladies' wear.
Paolo Zegna, chairman of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group, who is in Singapore to open the company's Capital Tower store, says, ‘Asia accounting for almost 30 per cent - including Japan - of sales makes us feel great because it's in line with our plan for a third of our business to be Europe, another third to be the Americas and a third to be Asia. We expect Asia to be the market of the future, and what we're doing in both developing and developed countries makes us feel very good about the next year.'
Mr Zegna's sanguine outlook and commitment to aggressive moves in Singapore and the region herald interesting news from the company in the months and years ahead. Stay tuned.
~ Business Times - 08 Sep 2007.
The project came about after JTC Corporation last Friday awarded Rock Productions the tender to build, lease and operate an integrated civic, cultural, retail and entertainment hub at Vista Xchange on a 60-year lease at a land price of $189 million.
New Creation Church, which now holds its services at The Rock Auditorium at Suntec City, will be the anchor tenant of the theatre, using the space on a large part of Sundays and one mid-week night, said Rock Productions director Matthew Kang.
Rock Productions also owns and manages The Rock Auditorium and Marine Cove, the recreational and dining establishment at East Coast Park.
~ ST, Sep 10, 2007.
QUOTES - The current 21st century tourism trends point towards Singapore as a major Asian destination. The key is to support the idea for a 'prime hub' beyond mere rhetoric. This means physical and social infrastructure support for Singapore as a unique attraction among regional tourists.
I envision Singapore as the 'global city of Asia' - a 'clean and green' masterplanned city-state with world-class infrastructure, strategically managed accommodation, global connectivity, vibrant enterprises, unique and exciting shopping and culinary experiences, and a melting pot for diverse cultures.
It is critical for planners and policy-makers to harness internal and external resources towards sustaining and supporting this positioning with the flood of tourists expected in the days ahead. Most importantly, our continued competitiveness in this area will have to be found in the regional links we can forge to benefit from the flow of tourism in the region.
~ Dora Hoan, Group CEO, Best World International Ltd. Business Times - 10 Sep 2007.
RETAIL - WingTai Asia Group subsidiary Wing Tai Branded Lifestyle has added furniture and home decor stores to its retail offerings.
Making its debut at with a 2,500 sq ft store in Raffles City, Zone Singapore is a one-stop store for home, bathroom, kitchen and office ware - the first franchise store in Asia for a Danish brand founded by Poul Jepsen. The 2,000-plus products are categorised into PersonalZone (bath accessories), LivingZone (living area), FoodZone (kitchen) and WorkZone (office).
Helen Khoo, executive director of Wing Tai Branded Lifestyle, says that Zone is an extension of the group's lifestyle activities. 'Shopping for the home has also become like buying fashion. Home furnishing is an expression of the owner's personality. We had to look for the right partner to bring in - and Zone was just what we were looking for.'
Zone is located at Raffles City, #03-25.
~ Business Times - 08 Sep 2007.
FASHION & DESIGN - Imitations are estimated to represent at least 5 per cent of the US$181 billion US apparel market. Critics of designers even argue that copies are good for fashion because they encourage designers to continuously invent new wares to stay ahead. A reliable estimate of knock-offs cannot be determined because designers and retailers disagree on which clothes are copies and which merely 'inspired' by a trend, a normal part of the fashion food chain.
~ TNP - 08 Sep 2007.
HR & TRAINING - An official survey on staff training shows that big companies are benefiting strongly from their extensive training, even though there are fewer immediate benefits for the staff members themselves.
Larger companies tended to be more likely to provide training for their staff; 96 per cent of companies with 250 or more staff sent people for training, while the percentage came down to 86 per cent for those with 100-249 workers, and 66 per cent for companies with fewer than 100 employees.
By sector, among the highest training participation rate was in construction (91 per cent), hotels (86 per cent), financial services (85 per cent) and companies in professional services (81 per cent). Retailers (50 per cent) and restaurants (39 per cent) were among the least enthusiastic about training, possibly because these sectors have a high reliance on temporary or part-time workers who are trained on the job.
~ Business Times - 08 Sep 2007.
QUOTES - When Singapore was young and poor, its civil servants worked like warriors. 'We spent 10 per cent of our time thinking, and the rest of the time doing - knocking on doors, asking people to invest in Singapore,' said Mr Ngiam Tong Dow, speaking at the Distinguished Speakers Lecture series, organised by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry yesterday.
Now that the country is prosperous, its civil servants sometimes behave like scholars. 'More thinking than doing,' said Mr Ngiam. 'If there is a problem, you call in the consultants,' he said, half-jokingly, to laughter from the 150 or so people at the Ritz Carlton ballroom. He observed that Singaporeans today could go into fine dining restaurants and know enough to order the best foods and wines. 'But if I asked you to do something practical, like fry an omelette, could you do it?'
He contrasted the 'warriors' of old with the civil servants of today. 'Scholars and warriors - you've got to be both,' he said.
In the early days, he said, Singapore didn't mind what jobs it was offered - it took them all, 'high-tech, low-tech or no tech'. Today, it is a financial centre that manages billions of dollars for foreign banks. It has high-value manufacturing sectors such as wafer fab. It is also an international hub for oil and other commodities.
Singapore, Mr Ngiam said, had expertise in many areas - from oil rigs to research in life sciences, from nanotechnology to media animation. But most of all, its forte is public administration. While the basics of government are incorruptibility and integrity, he said it is good administration that will 'deliver the public goods and services'.
~ TNP - 09 September 2007.
FASHION & DESIGN - Ermenegildo Zegna stands out from the luxury menswear crowd in its steadfast refusal, so far, to go into ladies' wear.
Paolo Zegna, chairman of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group, who is in Singapore to open the company's Capital Tower store, says, ‘Asia accounting for almost 30 per cent - including Japan - of sales makes us feel great because it's in line with our plan for a third of our business to be Europe, another third to be the Americas and a third to be Asia. We expect Asia to be the market of the future, and what we're doing in both developing and developed countries makes us feel very good about the next year.'
Mr Zegna's sanguine outlook and commitment to aggressive moves in Singapore and the region herald interesting news from the company in the months and years ahead. Stay tuned.
~ Business Times - 08 Sep 2007.
News Brief - 10 Sep 2007, Monday
Capturing headlines is one core expertise of the majority male. I've therefore decided to exercise this capability and extract major/ interesting trends and news brief on a regular basis to value-add to you, my faithful readers. I'm still learning to write my news brief, so bear with me for the first few posts. Hope it helps you to stay relevant and forward-looking.
.
You have a good future, albeit one filled with challenges!
QUOTES - 'The young premium segment is especially important as they are the best educated and are the primary beneficiaries of Singapore's transition to a knowledge-intensive and service-driven economy,' the report says.
~ Business Times - 05 Sep 2007.
QUOTES - 'The biggest boon for India is that 890 million people are under 45,' said V Vaidyanathan, executive director with India's second largest lender ICICI Bank, at the India Retail Forum 2007 in Mumbai on Tuesday.
~ Business Times - 06 Sep 2007.
PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT - Fancy Ritz-Carlton luxury living at home? That will be possible come 2010 when the Ritz-Carlton Residences is ready. Hayden Properties — a joint venture set up last year between KOP Capital and Emirates Tarian — will build the 36-storey, 58-unit condominium, while the Ritz-Carlton Company will manage the development. Sale prices will be available before the launch in late October.
~ SPH - Tuesday • September 4, 2007.
COMPANY PERFORMANCE - Retail and property counter Second Chance Properties said yesterday it will launch a Muslim Mart concept store to sharpen its focus on the Muslim market. Second Chance unveiled the plan with its financial results for the full year ended June 30. Net earnings jumped 75 per cent to $18.4 million, thanks mainly to an $8.5 million gain on the fair value of marketable securities, compared with $900,000 in 2006. The result was achieved on a 13.4 per cent increase in turnover to $48.2 million from $42.5 million.
~ Business Times - 30 Aug 2007.
COMPANY PERFORMANCE - WING Tai Holdings yesterday posted fourth-quarter group net profit of $243.2 million, more than triple the $75.4 million for the previous corresponding period. The results brought the group's net earnings for the full year to June 30, 2007 to $381.8 million - a record for the property and retail group - and almost three times the $128 million for the preceding year. The full-year results include $189 million in fair value gains on investment properties (mostly Winsland House I & II) as well as profits booked from the sale of residential property units. Wing Tai sold 1,311 homes for $1.8 billion in FY2007.
~ Business Times - 30 Aug 2007.
FASHION & RETAIL - In the early days when alldressedup first made its debut in Singapore and got lots of media coverage, articles about the label were often accompanied by headlines to the rhyme of 'all dressed up and nowhere to go'.
All those who did wonder just how far alldressedup would go though need not do so any more, because alldressedup has hit the racks at Saks Fifth Avenue (eight stores across the United States) and Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, besides being stocked in multi-label stores in Jakarta, Bangkok, Kuwait, Riyadh, Bahrain and Brisbane.
'Now you can say we're all dressed up and going global!' declares Tina Tan-Leo, 47, the brains (and the beauty) behind the label, and the founder and president of The Link group.
In September, the label will get a shop-in-shop space at Parksons at The Pavilions in Kuala Lumpur; similarly, at Isetan Scotts here in October. Its flagship stores will open in The Gardens in Kuala Lumpur in January, and then in Paragon in March 2008.
~ Business Times - 25 Aug 2007.
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP - Not every entrepreneur goes into business strictly with making money in mind. And not every socially conscious individual gives up a steady income to do charity work. 'I wanted a business that was built to benefit people,' Ms Joanna Soh explains. So she looked at the organic products industry, and since organic food and skincare had become quite established products, she reckoned that organic clothing could become the next big thing.
CooshLife was born just nine months ago, after Ms Soh hooked up with an organic apparel producer in Australia and a friend with creative design background here in Singapore. Their first product, CooshBaby - a label of 100 per cent organic babywear - is now available at three outlets here: Takashimaya department store, Supernature and Mothers Work.
~ Business Times - 07 Sep 2007.
ART - Eat, drink, and be arty! Call it window shopping for art. Put on your walking shoes for an art walk around 16 galleries having a combined open house. A chartered bus in two looped services will arrive at designated times to take you around galleries in areas such as Dempsey Road, Holland Village and Robertson Quay. Bonus: a free flow of wine and cheese at most galleries. Check out : www.agas.org.sg
~ ST - Sep 7, 2007.
RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT – Not long ago, these 50 or so Housing Board (HDB) shops were almost forgotten as a number of struggling businesses took a payout to leave. Now, the area is buzzing with new life, as crowds throng trendy new wine shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants – all in a relaxed, alfresco setting.
Sunset Way’s new look will only get better: its town council and the HDB will pump in another $1.5 million to complete its makeover, said Mr Andrew Lim, chairman of the Sunset Way Trades Association (SWTA).
Some new food and beverage retailers told The Straits Times they looked at Tanglin Village before settling on Sunset Way, forking out an average $250,000 to set up shop. One tenant, who did not want to be named, said he was paying rent of about $5.50 per sq ft (psf).
That is far cheaper than the rent at Holland Village of $15 psf, and those at Tanglin Village of about $8 to $10 psf, as well as nearby Rochester Park of about $12 psf, estimated Sunset Way’s master tenant, Mr Victor Koh of Circles International Solutions. ‘I did my research before deciding on the prices here. It’s important to be affordable when the estate’s just starting again.’
~ SPH, Aug 30, 2007
QUOTES - Productivity must know no age and must enable us to propel the nation to greater progress instead of looking at the elderly as dependants. And fail not to consider the sunny side: an ageing workforce means the potential availability of knowledgeable and experienced older workforce to contribute to national productivity. It is also an opportunity to create new markets for products and services targeted towards the older population.
~ Business Times - 27 Aug 2007.
GOVERNMENT & POLICIES - Monetising two and three-room HDB flats owned by older Singaporeans is a good move as this will provide them with additional funds for their retirement needs. Besides providing housing grants to first-time owners who want to stay near their parents, perhaps the government may want to consider 60 or 66-year leases instead of the current 99-year leases for new HDB flats. This will allow the first-time owners to pay less for their flats and at the same time save more money in their CPF accounts. - Theresa Chew, CEO and Co-founder, Expression International.
~ Business Times - 27 Aug 2007.
COMPANY PERFORMANCE - Fashion and lifestyle group FJ Benjamin's full-year net profit has more than doubled to $21.5 million from the previous full year's $10.2 million. Turnover for the full year to June 30 rose 38 per cent to $257.6 million on the back of strong retail sales particularly from its Guess brand and maiden contributions from the Gap business launched in September 2006. The retailer - which also holds other brands like Raoul, Banana Republic and Celine - will return $74 million in a capital reduction exercise, which works out to be 13 cents per share.
~ Business Times – 24 Aug 2007.
MERGER AND ACQUISITION - Japanese department store Isetan Co Ltd yesterday said it would take over its 334-year-old rival Mitsukoshi Ltd for US$2.6 billion in a stock swap, creating the country's largest department store group. The merger is the latest move to consolidate Japan's US$68 billion department store sector. Industry-wide sales have fallen for nine years amid weak consumer spending. Isetan, the fifth-biggest department store, and fourth-ranked Mitsukoshi would together generate about 1.6 trillion yen (S$21 billion) in annual sales, surpassing a union of Daimaru and Matsuzakaya Holdings set for September.
~ Business Times - 24 Aug 2007.
PRPPERTY DEVELOPMENT - The sleepy foothills of Mount Faber are set to come alive. The Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) has been tasked with turning it into the next lifestyle-cum-entertainment hot spot in Singapore. He explained that Mount Faber was being tapped because the 500-ha Sentosa island was 'quickly running out of room'.
~ SPH - Aug 15, 2007.
.
You have a good future, albeit one filled with challenges!
QUOTES - 'The young premium segment is especially important as they are the best educated and are the primary beneficiaries of Singapore's transition to a knowledge-intensive and service-driven economy,' the report says.
~ Business Times - 05 Sep 2007.
QUOTES - 'The biggest boon for India is that 890 million people are under 45,' said V Vaidyanathan, executive director with India's second largest lender ICICI Bank, at the India Retail Forum 2007 in Mumbai on Tuesday.
~ Business Times - 06 Sep 2007.
PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT - Fancy Ritz-Carlton luxury living at home? That will be possible come 2010 when the Ritz-Carlton Residences is ready. Hayden Properties — a joint venture set up last year between KOP Capital and Emirates Tarian — will build the 36-storey, 58-unit condominium, while the Ritz-Carlton Company will manage the development. Sale prices will be available before the launch in late October.
~ SPH - Tuesday • September 4, 2007.
COMPANY PERFORMANCE - Retail and property counter Second Chance Properties said yesterday it will launch a Muslim Mart concept store to sharpen its focus on the Muslim market. Second Chance unveiled the plan with its financial results for the full year ended June 30. Net earnings jumped 75 per cent to $18.4 million, thanks mainly to an $8.5 million gain on the fair value of marketable securities, compared with $900,000 in 2006. The result was achieved on a 13.4 per cent increase in turnover to $48.2 million from $42.5 million.
~ Business Times - 30 Aug 2007.
COMPANY PERFORMANCE - WING Tai Holdings yesterday posted fourth-quarter group net profit of $243.2 million, more than triple the $75.4 million for the previous corresponding period. The results brought the group's net earnings for the full year to June 30, 2007 to $381.8 million - a record for the property and retail group - and almost three times the $128 million for the preceding year. The full-year results include $189 million in fair value gains on investment properties (mostly Winsland House I & II) as well as profits booked from the sale of residential property units. Wing Tai sold 1,311 homes for $1.8 billion in FY2007.
~ Business Times - 30 Aug 2007.
FASHION & RETAIL - In the early days when alldressedup first made its debut in Singapore and got lots of media coverage, articles about the label were often accompanied by headlines to the rhyme of 'all dressed up and nowhere to go'.
All those who did wonder just how far alldressedup would go though need not do so any more, because alldressedup has hit the racks at Saks Fifth Avenue (eight stores across the United States) and Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, besides being stocked in multi-label stores in Jakarta, Bangkok, Kuwait, Riyadh, Bahrain and Brisbane.
'Now you can say we're all dressed up and going global!' declares Tina Tan-Leo, 47, the brains (and the beauty) behind the label, and the founder and president of The Link group.
In September, the label will get a shop-in-shop space at Parksons at The Pavilions in Kuala Lumpur; similarly, at Isetan Scotts here in October. Its flagship stores will open in The Gardens in Kuala Lumpur in January, and then in Paragon in March 2008.
~ Business Times - 25 Aug 2007.
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP - Not every entrepreneur goes into business strictly with making money in mind. And not every socially conscious individual gives up a steady income to do charity work. 'I wanted a business that was built to benefit people,' Ms Joanna Soh explains. So she looked at the organic products industry, and since organic food and skincare had become quite established products, she reckoned that organic clothing could become the next big thing.
CooshLife was born just nine months ago, after Ms Soh hooked up with an organic apparel producer in Australia and a friend with creative design background here in Singapore. Their first product, CooshBaby - a label of 100 per cent organic babywear - is now available at three outlets here: Takashimaya department store, Supernature and Mothers Work.
~ Business Times - 07 Sep 2007.
ART - Eat, drink, and be arty! Call it window shopping for art. Put on your walking shoes for an art walk around 16 galleries having a combined open house. A chartered bus in two looped services will arrive at designated times to take you around galleries in areas such as Dempsey Road, Holland Village and Robertson Quay. Bonus: a free flow of wine and cheese at most galleries. Check out : www.agas.org.sg
~ ST - Sep 7, 2007.
RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT – Not long ago, these 50 or so Housing Board (HDB) shops were almost forgotten as a number of struggling businesses took a payout to leave. Now, the area is buzzing with new life, as crowds throng trendy new wine shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants – all in a relaxed, alfresco setting.
Sunset Way’s new look will only get better: its town council and the HDB will pump in another $1.5 million to complete its makeover, said Mr Andrew Lim, chairman of the Sunset Way Trades Association (SWTA).
Some new food and beverage retailers told The Straits Times they looked at Tanglin Village before settling on Sunset Way, forking out an average $250,000 to set up shop. One tenant, who did not want to be named, said he was paying rent of about $5.50 per sq ft (psf).
That is far cheaper than the rent at Holland Village of $15 psf, and those at Tanglin Village of about $8 to $10 psf, as well as nearby Rochester Park of about $12 psf, estimated Sunset Way’s master tenant, Mr Victor Koh of Circles International Solutions. ‘I did my research before deciding on the prices here. It’s important to be affordable when the estate’s just starting again.’
~ SPH, Aug 30, 2007
QUOTES - Productivity must know no age and must enable us to propel the nation to greater progress instead of looking at the elderly as dependants. And fail not to consider the sunny side: an ageing workforce means the potential availability of knowledgeable and experienced older workforce to contribute to national productivity. It is also an opportunity to create new markets for products and services targeted towards the older population.
~ Business Times - 27 Aug 2007.
GOVERNMENT & POLICIES - Monetising two and three-room HDB flats owned by older Singaporeans is a good move as this will provide them with additional funds for their retirement needs. Besides providing housing grants to first-time owners who want to stay near their parents, perhaps the government may want to consider 60 or 66-year leases instead of the current 99-year leases for new HDB flats. This will allow the first-time owners to pay less for their flats and at the same time save more money in their CPF accounts. - Theresa Chew, CEO and Co-founder, Expression International.
~ Business Times - 27 Aug 2007.
COMPANY PERFORMANCE - Fashion and lifestyle group FJ Benjamin's full-year net profit has more than doubled to $21.5 million from the previous full year's $10.2 million. Turnover for the full year to June 30 rose 38 per cent to $257.6 million on the back of strong retail sales particularly from its Guess brand and maiden contributions from the Gap business launched in September 2006. The retailer - which also holds other brands like Raoul, Banana Republic and Celine - will return $74 million in a capital reduction exercise, which works out to be 13 cents per share.
~ Business Times – 24 Aug 2007.
MERGER AND ACQUISITION - Japanese department store Isetan Co Ltd yesterday said it would take over its 334-year-old rival Mitsukoshi Ltd for US$2.6 billion in a stock swap, creating the country's largest department store group. The merger is the latest move to consolidate Japan's US$68 billion department store sector. Industry-wide sales have fallen for nine years amid weak consumer spending. Isetan, the fifth-biggest department store, and fourth-ranked Mitsukoshi would together generate about 1.6 trillion yen (S$21 billion) in annual sales, surpassing a union of Daimaru and Matsuzakaya Holdings set for September.
~ Business Times - 24 Aug 2007.
PRPPERTY DEVELOPMENT - The sleepy foothills of Mount Faber are set to come alive. The Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) has been tasked with turning it into the next lifestyle-cum-entertainment hot spot in Singapore. He explained that Mount Faber was being tapped because the 500-ha Sentosa island was 'quickly running out of room'.
~ SPH - Aug 15, 2007.
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