Hilarious. I love this part when the T-Rex looks like Bart Simpson. That could explain the 'love-hate' relationship between him & Homer (potential prey in the prehistoric past!). Heh. Check out the clip, "The Simpsons - Homer Evolution".
The winning numbers are 11-16-42-47-31-37. And no, you can't buy the same numbers in Singapore's ToTo. Heh.
Congratulations to the winner! I believe it won't stay a mystery for long as the pressure has mounted that the winner is to be identified. As per now there has been some rumours--unverified, of course--that there is actually no winner & the prize money ($16.73 million!) is being claimed by the organization.
So there. The real winner is better be introduced. And quick!A mystery punter in the impoverished Philippines has become an instant multi-millionaire after winning the country's biggest-ever lottery jackpot, organisers said Tuesday.
The lucky gambler will collect 741.176 million pesos (16.73 million dollars) after his numbers came up in Monday's Philippine Charity Sweepstakes draw.
The winner, who has yet to claim his prize and is likely to remain anonymous, beat odds of one in nearly 29 million to guess the right combination of six numbers between one and 55, the lottery organisers said.
In a country where one in three people live on a dollar a day, the lottery created a frenzy as the jackpot slowly built from mid-May -- there had been no winners in 86 consecutive draws.
"The number of bettors grew as the pot increased," said Manny Arazas, an accountant at the Bataan-Zambales lottery office northwest of Manila, who told AFP he heard the winner had come from his area.
"And they began betting on up to five number combinations at a time, instead of just one."
President Benigno Aquino's spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, one of the losing bettors, said anecdotal evidence suggested the lotto buzz had curbed a wildly popular illegal numbers game called "jueteng", at least temporarily.
"If it's true, then it would really be a strike against jueteng," Lacierda told reporters.
Aquino had allowed his cabinet members to bet, he added.
The influential Roman Catholic church, which frowns on gambling, ironically has kept mum over the lottery -- it too is expected to get a windfall because the sweeptakes office is among its biggest charitable donors.
Thirty percent of state lottery sales goes to a fund that the government uses to finance health programmes and select charities, including the church.
Meanwhile, the identity of Monday's winner is likely to remain a mystery for some time.
As a security measure, the lottery does not reveal the winner's name unless it has the person's consent. The winner has the option to deposit the winnings at a bank located inside the lottery's central Manila office.
From Channel NewsAsia, "Philippine lottery jackpot won by one mystery punter".One bettor won the Philippines’ highest lotto jackpot prize of $16.7 million (741 million pesos) on Monday when the drawn numbers matched the bet of 11-16-42-47-31-37, according to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
The winning bettor beat the 1-in-29 million odds of picking the winning number combination and ended six months of winless 86 draws for the Grand Lotto 6/55, where bettors pick six numbers from one to 55.
Long queues of bettors on PCSO lotto stations were the scenes in the capital the whole day on Monday until the closing time for betting at 8 p.m. Many Filipinos hoped to win the whopping jackpot.
The largest ever lotto jackpot won in the country was on February 22, 2009 when two bettors won and split the 6/49 Super Lotto prize of $7.8 million (347 million pesos). Both got the winning number combination of 6-34-20-26-12-33.
From AHN, "One Lucky Bettor Wins $16.7 Million Philippines Lottery Jackpot".
See, inflation must be factored in as well. And MAS state that Singapore inflation to rise to 4%!!THE Singapore workforce grew to a record high, figures released by the Ministry of Manpower on Tuesday showed that the labour market (aged 15-years and above) increased from 65.4 per cent in 2009 to 66.2 per cent in 2010.
Boosted by the strong economic recovery, workers' incomes have also risen.
Median monthly income rose by 4.2 per cent over the year to $2,710 in 2010.
This is faster than the marginal growth of 0.5 per cent in 2009.
The unemployment rate now stands at 3.2 per cent or 65,500 people, down from 4.5 per cent or 90,300 persons in the same period last year.
As at June 2010, there were 2.05 million residents in the labour force, comprising 1.15 million (56%) males and 0.90 million (44%) females.
From Straits Times, "Monthly income up by 4.2%".The Manpower Ministry (MOM) said the median monthly income of resident Singaporeans in full-time employment rose by 4.2 per cent over the year to S$2,710 in June, boosted by the strong economic recovery.
That is higher than the marginal growth of just half a per cent in 2009.
MOM said even after adjusting for the higher inflation this year, the median income rose by 1.8 per cent, recovering from a slight dip of 0.1 per cent in 2009.
Part-timers also saw a significant increase of 13 per cent in their median income to S$700 this year.
Overall, the nominal median income for all employed residents rose by 3.3 per cent to S$2,500, after falling by 1.2 per cent last year.
MOM said the growth in income this year came earlier and stronger than in the previous recovery, when the median income hardly moved from 2001 to 2006, before rising significantly in 2007.
The Ministry also said that the strong economic recovery has boosted the employment rate.
The increase in employment rate was broad-based across both prime and older age groups, especially among women. A record 71.7 per cent of women in the prime-working ages of 25 to 54 were working this year, up from 69.4 per cent in 2009.
Nevertheless, MOM said their employment rate was still below the 92.4 per cent for prime-working age men, which increased from 91.6 per cent in 2009.
The proportion of residents aged 25 to 64 in employment rebounded to a new high of 77.1 per cent from 75.8 per cent in 2009, after falling by 1.2 percentage-points from the preceding year due to the economic downturn.
The employment rate for older residents aged 55 to 64 rose to a new high of 59.0 per cent in 2010, after holding steady at 57.2 per cent over the past two years.
The rise was largely contributed by a marked increase in proportion of older women in employment from 40.1 per cent in 2009 to 43.4 per cent in 2010.
The employment rate for older men was also at a record high of 75.0 per cent in 2010.
Supported by the economic recovery, the resident unemployment rate and number improved significantly from 4.5 per cent in June 2009 to 3.2 per cent in June 2010.
From Channel NewsAsia, "Median income of Singaporeans rose 4.2% in 2010: MOM".The central bank said the inflation rate will rise by the end of 2010 and stay high in the first half of 2011.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore highlighted higher price pressures from car, commodity, accommodation and domestic oriented services, with the ultimate expectation that “with the economy already operating at close to full employment, labor cost pressures have picked up and will persist into 2011”.
In a statement, MAS said the underlying inflation is expected “to average around 2% in 2010 and 2- 3% in 2011”. It also explicitly noted that “the balance of risks is weighted towards inflation going forward.”
Partially quoted from Singapore Business Review, "Singapore inflation to rise to 4%: MAS".
Red Riding Hood.This ought to be one of those shows I'm looking forward to watching next year.
This pervert is apparently a nobody. No trace on his identity on the Net can be found. (And why am I doing that? Well, just wonder what other dark secrets this Sim Keng Tee has.)
From how the story goes, he seemed to have a lot of free time while working as a civilian officer in the Singapore Police Force. So free he could masturbate during office hour?! Hmm...talking about poor supervision. Tsk tsk...Sim Keng Tee, 39, pleaded guilty on Wednesday afternoon to two charges of mischief where he tainted two of his female colleagues' drinking water with his semen.
This was two of 10 offences he pleaded guilty to in court. The names of victims were not revealed to protect their identities.
The civilian officer in the Singapore Police Force mixed semen into his colleagues' drinking water on two separate occasions in 2008 at his office along Irrawady Road. He has since been relieved of his position in the police force.
On February 21 2008, he masturbated to a photograph of his female colleague, and collected the semen in a small bottle. He recorded himself doing this on his handphone.
He then returned to his office and waited for her to leave her desk temporarily. When she did, Sim mixed his semen with the drinking water in her water bottle. He also recorded this.
As the water bottle was tinted red the victim did not realise the water was no longer clear.
Sim then struck up a conversation with the victim when she returned to her desk and secretly recorded her drinking the tainted water.
Two months later, on April 2, 2008, Sim repeated his actions with a second female colleague.
This time, instead of pouring the semen into her water bottle, he poured it into her bottle of green tea.
As the bottle was wrapped in plastic, the victim did not realise the difference. Again Sim, struck up a conversation with his victim while he recorded her drinking the water mixed with his semen.
Sim saved these videos on his personal computer at home.
These videos and more were discovered in a police raid conducted in 2009 when a third female colleague reported him to the authorities after she caught him taking up-skirt photos of her.
The police raid also revealed that Sim had taken videos of four of his colleagues and had organised the videos on his personal computer into separate folders named after each victim.
How he was discovered
On September 10, 2009, Sim approached a colleague at her desk and asked her to pass him a stack of documents.
While she was standing up, Sim squatted on the opposite side of the desk.
When she turned around, she noticed that Sim was holding his mobile phone under her skirt.
After a struggle, she managed to grab the phone and discovered the upskirt shots of herself.
She then reported the matter.
In court today, Sim pleaded for leniency saying he had voluntarily put himself through medical check ups and counselling sessions.
Further to the 10 charges that Sim pleaded guilty to, another 149 charges will be taken into consideration for sentencing to be held on December 1, 2010.
For intending to intrude upon the privacy of a woman, Sim faces imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or a fine, or both, for each of the eight charges at hand.
He also faces imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or a fine, or both, for each of the two charges of mischief faced.
From Asiaone, "Man admits to tainting colleagues' drinking water with semen".
PS. The uproar seems limited with only 3 comments so far in Reach, "Condemn HETEROSEXUAL PRANKS !!!!!!!".
Update on 01/12: A jail term of 18 months. That's it. No caning. This Sim Keng Tee is quite lucky, I'd say.THE man who tainted his female colleagues' water and tea with his semen and secretly recorded them drinking was jailed for 18 months on Wednesday.
Sim Keng Tee, 35, then a civilian officer with the Singapore Police Force, was convicted last week of two counts of mischief and eight charges of intruding into the privacy of his female colleagues and unknown women.
Sim, who had a total of 159 charges, had masturbated to a photograph of a woman colleague on Feb 21, 2008 and collected the semen in a small bottle.
He recorded the act on his mobile phone. He returned to his office and waited for the victim to leave temporarily so that he could mix his semen with the drinking water in her water bottle. He also recorded this. He then chatted with her and secretly recorded her drinking the tainted water.
He struck again two months later with another female colleague. He poured the semen into her water bottle of green tea. While talking to her, he recorded her drinking the water mixed with his semen.
His offences came to light in September last year when a third female colleague caught him taking upskirt photos of her.
From Straits Times, "Jailed for semen drink".
Can't wait to watch this highly praised film "Confessions" ("Kokuhaku").It begins in the classroom. A devastated mother, an ice-cold teacher, Moriguchi sensei is looking for the murderer of her four year old daughter, a student from her own class. In a series of cruel, and horrific acts, Confessions is a disturbing film that plunges into a world of obsession, retribution and vengeance. From Tetsuya Nakashima, director of Kamikaze Girls and Memories of Matsuko, Confessions has become a massive box office hit that has left the whole of Japan on the edge of its seat.
Quoted from the 14th Japanese Film Festival, "Confessions".
Confessions © 2010 TOHO / Hakuhodo DY Media Partners / Faith Wonderworks / LICRI / Futabasha Publishers / NIPPON SHUPPAN HANBAI / Yahoo Japan / TSUTAYA Group All Rights Reserved.
Stateless man fights for Singapore citizenship. 'Fights'? More precise 'complains', I'd say. This 22-year-old Ogawa Ryuju (check out his blog, http://kusokun.livejournal.com/) insists he losing his Singapore citizenship is due to ICA's fault. He insists ICA should have given him a call when he didn't respond to the 2 letters ICA claimed to have sent him.
Wow. Who the *beep* does this Ogawa Ryuju think himself?! He wants ICA to come knocking on his door & begging him to take an oath to finalise his citizenship?!
Right. Move on, dreamer. Say, are you now living in one of the Changi terminals just like Tom Hanks in the movie, "The Terminal"?A 22-year-old man has found himself caught in a fix after discovering that he is stateless, and ‘no longer a Singapore citizen’.
Ogawa Ryuju was born in Japan to a Japanese father and Singaporean mother and has been living in Singapore since the age of 10. Last year, at the age of 21, he had decided to relinquish his Japanese citizenship to become a Singaporean despite the difficulties he had faced, as he had spent most of his growing up years in the city state.
“I was 10-years-old and only in primary 2, and I could hardly speak English then. My schoolmates also liked to pick on the fact that I’m half-Japanese, so they would bring up the issue of World War II among other things,” he told Yahoo! Singapore.
In Singapore, Ryuju had done his ‘N’ Level examinations, and served two years of National Service. He also possesses a pink identity card and a Singapore passport.
“Singapore is where I call my home, where my friends and family live. It does not matter to me if I’m a citizen of Japan or Singapore, as long as I can live here,” he said.
Foreigners have to take an oath to confirm their status as Singapore citizens at the age of 21. Once they turn 22, their Singapore citizenship will be forfeited if the oath has not been taken.
According to Ryuju, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) claimed they had sent him two letters — first when he turned 21 on 31 August 2009, and then six months after that — to inform him that he had to take a formal oath to finalise his citizenship. However, he claimed that he did not receive any letters from ICA.
“They sent me two letters, but I did not receive anything. When they did not hear from me, they could have called and told me that I needed to go down. After all, they’ve got all my details,” Ryuju lamented.
He only discovered the bad news on October 4 this year, just over a month after his 22nd birthday, when he went down to the ICA to renew his Singapore passport.
“They told me that I was no longer a Singaporean, and the person even showed me a letter that they were preparing to send to me. This was a bit ridiculous as my 22nd birthday had passed more than a month before, and they still hadn’t officially informed me of this,” he said.
He also revealed that his initial appeal to the ICA was recently rejected. His Member of Parliament assisting him in this matter, Mr Heng Chee How, had advised him to re-apply for Singapore citizenship.
However, Ryuju is holding strong to his principles.
“I believe that this situation is the fault of the ICA. If they had handled the situation well, there would not have been this miscommunication. Instead, they do not even want to admit that they have any fault to play at all. I believe that all humans make mistakes, and I’m seeking an apology from their side on this mix-up before I apply again,” he added.
When asked if he would regret spending two years of his life in National Service only to end up not retaining his Singapore citizenship, he shook his head immediately.
“Of course, who wants to spend two years of his life in NS? But for me, I think NS was good as I learnt a lot of values that I otherwise would not have picked up if I was simply leading a normal life outside,” he declared proudly.
ICA could not be reached for comment on the matter.
From Fit to Post - Yahoo! Singapore's blog, "Stateless man fights for Singapore citizenship".
Check out this sexy and funy clip, "Wife Seducse Contractor". Lol.
Some random photos taken from the recent Malacca trip. It was relaxing. Very relaxing. Heh.
1. At St Paul's Church...
2. ...nearby some entrepreneur getting a tourist' money by letting her posing with an iguana. I smell fear. Heh.
3. A shot from the top of the hill where St Paul's Church is.
4. The A Famosa.
5. A magnificently red Christ Church.
6. A fountain in front of the Church.
7. The entrance to the Jonker Street (it's happening at night! With the road is closed & various stalls magically set up!)
8. Chicken rice balls at one of the stalls. Over-rated.
9. Decided to hop onto the cruise along the Melaka River. They style their bridges well...
10. ...oh, and so do the houses near the river.
11. A very slow moving monorail which the boat can easily overtake.
12. An interestingly empty pirate-theme theme park.
13. Unstoppable...Hardly...Not!
14. A night shot of the Christ Church.
15. A fun karaoke performance at the Jonker Street with two uncles sportingly dancing.
16. The Stadhuys which somehow I missed in the day.
And no, I'm not one of the 37 society members from Singapore. (The Clouds Appreciation Society boast of 24,049 members from 85 different countries.)
Reading at the Society's Manifesto is enough to convince me that my other blog, "Because the moon already does another's..." or the more apt URL "http://thecloudsrepresentmyheart.blogspot.com/"--which so far has featured 146 shots of clouds--may just belong to this 'eccentric' society.
and that life would be immeasurably poorer without them.
We think that they are Nature’s poetry,
and the most egalitarian of her displays, since
everyone can have a fantastic view of them.
We pledge to fight ‘blue-sky thinking’ wherever we find it.
Life would be dull if we had to look up at
cloudless monotony day after day.
We seek to remind people that clouds are expressions of the
atmosphere’s moods, and can be read like those of
a person’s countenance.
Clouds are so commonplace that their beauty is often overlooked.
They are for dreamers and their contemplation benefits the soul.
Indeed, all who consider the shapes they see in them will save
on psychoanalysis bills.
And so we say to all who’ll listen:
Look up, marvel at the ephemeral beauty, and live life with your head in the clouds!
...then again, the membership cost of this society (£4 + postage) is enough to break the spell of a fleeting thought to feel belong to a larger picture.
Nah, I will prefer being a fair, free & feeble cloud of cumulus type than being a high flying cloud of cirrus category which demands a membership fee.
So count me out, The Clouds Appreciation Society! (Not that they're offering a membership anyway. But well...)
Well, he did sound adamant, didn't he? He must feel strongly against Singapore's legal system as what he penned in his book, "Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock".
Three news articles quoted below have but a scorn on how Singapore handle this case. In my opinion, Alan Shadrake had made a right move by publishing his controversial book.
By pushing Singapore's legal system to fight back, he has won a free publicity & that helps him promote his "I'm very much against the death penalty in Singapore and everywhere else" case.
Singapore also feels somewhat pressures from other opportunists who are quick to condemn the legal action taken against this errant author ("lack of respect for freedom of expression", "a disgrace", to mention some).
But hey, this is Singapore's very own legal system & it should never be dictated by external party, should it? So yes, let the criticism blazing rapidly & so shall this rapid fire extinguish itself.Alan Shadrake, 75, faces six weeks jail and a $US20,000 fine for publishing a book critical of Singapore's legal system.
The Malaysian-based writer told ABC Radio Australia he has a week to decide on an appeal and he will not be silenced.
"I don't care what I say, they can do what the heck they like, I'm not going to shut up," he said.
"I'm very much against the death penalty in Singapore and everywhere else."
Shadrake, who lives in Malaysia and Britain, was arrested by Singapore police in July after launching the book Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock.
It includes a profile of Darshan Singh, the former chief executioner at Singapore's Changi Prison who, according to the author, executed about 1,000 men and women from 1959 until he retired in 2006.
It also features interviews with human rights activists, lawyers and former police officers on cases involving capital punishment.
The book also alleges the law was administered unfairly, with some cases influenced by diplomatic factors.
Shadrake has denied his court case is a publicity stunt.
"No, I didn't do it for publicity. I took legal advice [saying] as long as it's accurate, they cannot do anything to you and the book was not banned," he said.
Shadrake says he thinks his case will generate debate in the region about the death penalty.
From ABC News, "Jailed author refuses to be silenced".Shadrake still faces a criminal defamation investigation. He had offered to apologize for offending the sensitivities of the judiciary, but emphasized that he would never apologize for his book itself.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and other groups have blasted Singapore's prosecution of the author.
"Singapore is answering criticism by jailing its critics," Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director, said in a release Tuesday.
The group noted that that the author has been prosecuted under Singapore's criminal defamation laws, which have also been used against other critics of the government.
"By penalizing Alan Shadrake, Singapore has drawn even greater global attention to its lack of respect for freedom of expression," Zarifi added.
Partially quoted from CBC News, "Singapore jails U.K. author over hangman book".The jailing of 76-year-old British author Alan Shadrake in Singapore is, quite simply, a disgrace. It confirms that there is no freedom of expression in the city-state island.
Convicted of contempt of court, he must serve six weeks and pay a fine of SGD$20,000 (£9,600). He also faces separate charges of criminal defamation, which are punishable by a maximum of two years in prison and a hefty fine.
Partially quoted from Guardian, "Disgraceful jail sentence for British author in Singapore".
Check out this hilarious clip, "Don't Stop Your Screaming (Parody)". Yes, it's a parody of a catchy song from TV series, Glee titled "Don't Stop Believing".
Yes, here are the three of creatively created Inception trailer mashup! Rambo-Inception trailer mashup (116 views so far), Forrest Gump-Inception trailer mashup (196 views) & Shrek-Inception trailer mashup (287 views). It's like discovering a gem as they are really well inceptioned, uhm, you know what I mean...
My personal favorite is still that of Lost season 6. Heh.
Check out the official website for Singapore Toy, Games and Comic Convention at http://www.singaporetgcc.com/ (cool screenshot, isn't it?). I am surely looking forward to attending this event! Heh. Take note of the date: 10/12 - 12/12.Marvel Comics will make its debut at the Singapore Toy, Games and Comic Convention (STGCC) next month.
STGCC organiser Reed Exhibitions said this will be the first convention in Asia that Marvel is exhibiting at.
Fans will be able to get up close and personal with the people behind characters such as the X-Men, the Incredible Hulk and Iron Man.
Marvel talent at the convention includes Spanish comic book artist Salvador Larroca, and other illustrators Leinil Yu, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Esad Ribic, Harvey Tolibao and Alex Maleev.
Artistic talent from Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries will also be showcasing their creative artwork at the convention.
In addition, aspiring comic book artists will get a chance to hear tips during panel sessions with creators, writers and illustrators.
International talent scout C.B Cebulski will also give an inside look into the world of Marvel and what he looks for in the next Marvel artist.
Ms Yeow Hui Leng, project director, Reed Exhibitions, said: "Marvel's extensive popularity is manifested through successful box office ticket receipts of Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, and The X-Men series because the comics these characters are based on have strong plot lines that dwell on universal themes like good versus evil, heroes versus villains, which resonate well in Asia."
STGCC will be held at the Suntec International Convention Centre from December 10 to 12.
From Channel NewsAsia, "Marvel Comics to make debut at S'pore convention".
More on Sabana REIT IPO which is also going to be Singapore's first Shari'ah-compliant. Interested? Count me out. I have no interest in REIT whether or not it's Shari'ah compliant. Sabana Shari'ah Compliant Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust (Sabana REIT) plans to raise up to S$696.1 million through an initial public offering (IPO), according to a prospectus it has filed with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Sabana said it plans to sell 632.8 million units, with each unit priced at between S$1 and S$1.10.
If successful, this would make it the first Shariah-compliant listing in Singapore.
The Singapore-based REIT invests mainly in industrial properties in Asia, as well as other real estate-related assets that are Shari'ah compliant.
The initial property portfolio of the REIT will comprise 15 industrial properties in Singapore with a gross floor area of around 3.9 million square feet.
According to agency reports, the roadshows for the IPO will start on Tuesday and the listing is planned for this month.
From Channel NewsAsia, "Sabana REIT files prospectus for Singapore IPO".
Update on 20/11: it's announced that the IPO for this REIT is at $1.05 per share.SABANA Shariah Compliant Reit, which owns industrial properties in Singapore, has priced its IPO at $1.05 a share, the midpoint of an indicative range, to raise $491 million, IFR reported yesterday, citing sources.
Sabana Reit, Singapore's first Islamic Reit and the largest syariah-compliant property trust anywhere, is offering 605.8 million units in the initial public offering (IPO). It had originally set a price guidance of $1.00-$1.10.
The retail tranche of the IPO, which started later yesterday, will close on Nov 24 and the units will begin trading on Nov 26, IFR added.
Sabana controls 15 industrial properties in Singapore with an aggregate floor area of about 3.3 million square feet.
The manager of the Reit had forecast in a draft prospectus a distribution yield of 8.45 per cent for 2011 and 8.48 per cent for 2012 based on the minimum offer price of $1.00. FIL Investment Management Hong Kong, a unit of US fund manager Fidelity, and Bahrain's al-Salam Bank are among the cornerstone investors that will buy 101.8 million units in the IPO.
HSBC is the sole financial adviser for the IPO and is joint global coordinator, bookrunner and underwriter with United Overseas Bank and Daiwa.
From Business Times, "Sabana Reit IPO priced at $1.05 a share, to raise $491m".
Update on 26/11: not so impressive first day trading of this counter. It closed at $1.02. Lower than its IPO price of $1.05. It even hits the intraday low of $0.97!The world's largest Shari'ah-compliant REIT by total assets opened to a sluggish start on its first day of trade in Singapore because of weak market sentiment.
Sabana Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust or Sabana REIT closed its first day of trade at S$1.02.
That's 2.8% lower than the IPO price of S$1.05.
While it may have been a tepid debut for Sabana REIT, some analysts said they expect strong appetite for such products in the future.
Sabana REIT's portfolio includes 15 industrial properties which are located in Singapore, where the manager of the REIT believes there is sustained demand for industrial properties.
HSBC is the sole financial adviser to the REIT, and it says this could be the first of many such listings in the market here.
HSBC's managing director and head of real estate advisory for Asia Pacific, Jason Kern, said: "I do think it will be a bit of a trend. I think what we have demonstrated through the execution of this IPO is that there is incremental demand out there for investors who don't normally invest in Singapore REITs.
"We have roughly 30% of the demand for this deal (from) brand new sources of capital.....the Middle East, Malaysia, Shari'ah compliant investors. So I think that's very powerful."
From Channel NewsAsia, "Sabana REIT makes weak debut".
Downtown east murder which is said to be related to gang fight leads me to wonder about the existence of secret societies in Singapore.
And guess what? Wikipedia does have an entry about this topic. In its article, "Secret societies in Singapore", there are some names mentioned (not so secret afterall, huh?): '21 (Dhee It)', Sio Kun Tong(Salakau) (369) (Chao), 18 Zhup Puey (Siao)(Sio Yi Ho), 'The 04 Gang' (Inactive), 24 Ghee Hia Di(Dhee Xi)', 'Kong Puey 08(Kong)', and some other 'Independent gangs'.
Interesting to note also the list of the gangs under the category of 'Independent gangs': * Sarajumbo (Indian Gang)
* Veerasamy (Indian Gang)
* Riyadi gang( Malay Gang)
* Omega (Malay gang)
* WuNaga (chinese,malay gang) 5NG (Inactive)
* 806 Woodlands Woodlands, Singapore Coffeeshop(Mixed gang)
* Seven stones(mix gang)(Inactive)(powerful)
* Cinababi (chinese gang)
* Nasibabi (malay gang) *Ondru Saernthu Paaduvom (indian gang)
* Mata Siao(999)(very powerful)
* no limit(tampines kia)kepala:ammar
* melayu ribot(city hall,bawah ketiak mak kau,ade bulu,carik dalam2
What puzzles me is that Katka Kopecka, the founder of this nude cleaning agency "Crazy Cleaners" commented that "the lucrative business not only provides its customers with pleasure but also make them feel stable".
Stable?!
No kidding? How on earth the customers of this nude cleaning agency are feeling stable with the cleaners (and their lack of clothes) carrying out their task???A group of cash-strapped college kids in the Czech Republic has formed a nude cleaning agency, the British Metro reported on Monday.
Consisting of 15 male and female students, the cleaning agency has been established to beat the economic downturn in the country.
The Crazy Cleaners charge $240 (S$308) per hour for a complete cleaning service while offering profiles of all staff members and the outfits they wear while cleaning.
Customers can choose from cleaners wearing underwear, going topless or completely naked.
Its founder Katka Kopecka, who majors in economics at Charles University in Prague, said: "We had no choice but to commence this type of business to get out of the current situation."
The 21-year-old college student stressed that people are fed up with household chores and this attitude lets them seek happiness by watching someone clean their house in their underwear.
She also pointed out that the company receives numerous calls from businessmen who are struggling with their hectic schedules.
According to her, the lucrative business not only provides its customers with pleasure but also make them feel stable.
But she insisted that people not confuse a cleaning agency with a brothel, the Metro added.
From Asiaone, "College students set up naked cleaning service".
The two words seem very much related. You say 'Foxconn' & the word 'suicides' comes to mind. Now this kind of publicity is for sure not needed by any company, is it? A WORKER died in an apparent suicide on Friday at a plant in China run by Taiwan's Foxconn, which makes goods for Apple, Sony and Nokia, state press said - the 11th such death this year at the factory.
The worker died after falling from a building at Foxconn's massive complex in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, Xinhua news agency said. No details about the victim were released.
Telephone operators at the plant refused to connect AFP to factory managers for comment about the death, which resembled 10 suicides this year at the facility, which employs an estimated 400,000 people.
At least 13 employees of Foxconn - the world's largest maker of computer components - have died in similar circumstances this year, according to the official Global Times. Labour rights activists have blamed the suicides at Foxconn on tough working conditions in its factories, highlighting the difficulties faced by millions of factory workers across the country.
Following the spate of suicides, Foxconn raised wages by nearly 70 per cent at its China plants earlier this year. But in a recent survey, researchers questioned 1,736 Foxconn workers at plants in nine cities and found they worked an average of 83.2 hours overtime a month, more than twice the maximum 36 hours allowed under Chinese law, the China Business News said last month.
Workers also claimed Foxconn skimped on overtime payments, forced student interns to work more than the statutory eight hours a day and provided inadequate medical check-ups for employees exposed to poisonous and harmful substances, the report said. Foxconn refuted the accusations and said it was working to improve the conditions for its workers.
From Straits Times, "11th Foxconn worker dies".
Yes. More update on initial public offering of STX OSV. Previously it was reported that the net proceeds are expected to be US$400 million. The latest news, however, stated that S$131.6 million shall be reaped with the offer price is at 79 cents per share.
Compare that amount with the maximum possible offer price of S$1.13! Strange, no? Which makes me to think twice to subscribe to this IPO. No, make it thrice! STX OSV Holdings - a subsidiary of South Korean shipping group STX - yesterday ended speculation about the offer price for its listing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
In its registered prospectus, the specialised offshore vessel builder priced its the offering of about 325.64 million shares at 79 cents each. The offer comprises 180 million new shares from the company and 145.64 million vendor shares from STX Europe Holding AS.
STX OSV is offering a public tranche of 16.28 million shares. The remaining 309.36 million are for international placement.
The total pool of shares may increase if an over-allotment option of 48.8 million shares is exercised by Goldman Sachs Singapore, stabilising manager for the initial public offer.
STX OSV estimates net proceeds from the IPO at $131.6 million - to be used for boosting capacity and equipment at STX OSV's shipyards in Vung Tau, Vietnam and Tulcea, Romania; for building a second shipyard in Brazil and for expanding power and automation capabilities at STX Norway Electro.
Goldman Sachs is the IPO's sole global coordinator, book-runner and issue manager.
The public offer opens today and closes on Nov 10. The shares are expected to start trading on the SGX main board on Nov 12.
From Business Times, "STX OSV to raise $131.6m in SGX listing".STX Corp. tumbled the most in almost 22 months in Seoul trading and STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. plunged after an offshore-vessel making affiliate priced its initial public offering at the bottom of the range.
STX Corp., the holding company for South Korea’s STX Group, slumped 13 percent, the most since January 2009, to close at 28,500 won on the Korea Exchange. STX Offshore dropped 15 percent, the most since November 2008, to 23,900 won. STX Engine Co. fell 12 percent to close at 36,800 won.
STX OSV yesterday priced its IPO shares at 79 Singaporean cents apiece, compared with a maximum possible price of S$1.13, according to terms sent to investors. The company will use the expected $142.2 million gross proceeds from the sale to help build a second shipyard in Brazil and boost capacity at other facilities making rig-support vessels.
“Investors seem to be disappointed,” said Lee Sang Hwa, a Seoul-based analyst at Hyundai Securities Co. “STX OSV sold fewer shares than anticipated and its IPO was priced at a low level, reducing the amount of cash inflow to the company.”
STX OSV is selling 180 million new shares, while STX Europe Holding AS is offering 145.6 million shares. STX Offshore is the largest shareholder in STX Europe, ahead of STX Engine.
Shares of STX OSV begin trading Nov. 12. DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Nordea Bank Finland Plc and Royal Bank of Scotland Plc arranged the IPO.
From Bloomberg, "STX Tumbles Most in Two Years After Unit's IPO Priced at Bottom of Range".
I prefer the 'alternate version' of the clip, "Racism in the Elevator". Which do you prefer the most? Heh.
