Singapore - Two freehold Good Class Bungalow (GCB) transactions in District 10 are in motion - one on White House Park near the Botanic Gardens and the other tucked away on Ewart Park off Holland Road.

The bungalow on White House Park is being sold at S$25.5 million, which translates to S$1,686 per square foot based on the land area of 15,125 square feet. The bungalow has five bedrooms, a pool and enough parking area for five cars. The living room is cantilevered above the driveway and the house has a U-shaped layout, separating the entertainment area from the personal space of its residents. It was completed in 1999.

The property is part of The Glencaird Residences collection, which was developed by a unit of Wharf Holdings of Hong Kong on the sprawling 194,000 sq ft former Australian High Commissioner's residence at the corner of White House Park and Dalvey Road.

Wharf bought the land for S$98 million or S$505 psf in October 1994.

The recent bungalow sale in White House Park is 2.2 per cent lower than the last caveated transaction at The Glencaird Residences which was a year ago, when a bungalow along Dalvey Road fetched S$26 million or S$1,724 psf.

Samuel Eyo, managing director of Singapore Christie's International Real Estate (Residential), who brokered last year's transaction, commented: "The latest sale shows that prices could be nearing stabilisation, for prime GCBs at least."

The buyer of the White House Park property is a Singaporean who is understood to be involved in the engineering and building construction businesses.

The sellers are Rodney Tan Boon Kian and Poh Ban Leng. Mr Tan and his family have a stake in Treasure Resort Pte Ltd, which owns the Le Meridien Singapore, Sentosa. The 191-room hotel, next to the Merlion Tower on Sentosa, is in the process of being sold. It is on a site with a balance lease term of about 59 years.

The Tans used to own the former Cairnhill Hotel, which they sold in 1996 to a Wing Tai-led consortium that redeveloped the site into a condo, The Light at Cairnhill.

The sale of the White House Park GCB is understood to have been brokered by Realstar Premier Group, which declined to comment when contacted.

Over at Ewart Park, an option has been granted for the purchase of a GCB at S$19.35 million or S$1,284 psf based on the land area of 15,069 sq ft. The house is said to have seven bedrooms and a pool. It is on an elevated site overlooking greenery. The prospective buyer is understood to be Singaporean Sandra Elnitiarta Kurniawan.

GCBs are the most prestigious type of landed housing in Singapore because of the planning constraints imposed. They have a minimum land area of 1,400 square metres (15,069 sq ft) and cannot be built more than two storeys high (plus an attic and a basement).

This article was first published on December 3, 2016.
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SINGAPORE - The multi-million dollar court case over Malaysian property tycoon Loong Yoke Phin's four family-owned firms is not uncommon.

Eight of the late tycoon's daughters are seeking to cash out their stake by winding up the companies, or by selling their shares to brother Long Shin and third sibling Sweet Ying.

Large inheritances have often resulted in pitched court battles and feuds among family members.

To misquote Leo Tolstoy, each unhappy family feud is unhappy in its own way.

Here are some cases from The Straits Times archive:

1. The Jumabhoys' public fallout over Scotts Holdings

PLAYERS: Mr Rajabali Jumabhoy, the patriarch of the Jumahboy clan, took his eldest son Ameerali to court in 1995.

WHAT'S AT STAKE: Shares in Scotts Holdings which the family controlled via Scotts Investments (Singapore)

DISPUTE: Mr Rajabali blamed his son for racking up losses of $50 million in the family business and dealing in family shares without permission. The court dispute divided the Jumabhoy siblings, with Ameerali and his brother Iqbal in one camp and his other brothers, Yusuf and Mustafa, and sister Perin, in the other.

RULING: The court battle ended only in May 1998, when the Appeals Court cleared Ameerali of any mismanagement of the business. The brothers decided to sell their shares in Scotts Holdings - whose crown jewel was Scotts Shopping Centre on Orchard Road. The site was originally the Jumabhoys' family home. The shares were bought by DBS Land, now part of CapitaLand.

2. Fight to control Yeo Hiap Seng

PLAYERS: Mr Alan Yeo, then chairman and chief executive of food and beverage group Yeo Hiap Seng, against a rival bloc of the family which included nephews Charles and Henry Yeo and cousin Mrs Wong Chee Hong.

WHAT'S AT STAKE: Control of Yeo Hiap Seng

DISPUTE: Unhappiness with Mr Alan Yeo began as he made some costly business moves in the late 1980s. When he wanted to bring in property and garment company Wing Tai as an investor, a group of family members opposed the sale and managed to block it. This rival faction also tried to oust Mr Alan Yeo as a director and chairman of the company. In May 1994, Mr Alan Yeo filed a court petition to dissolve the family holding company, Yeo Hiap Seng Holdings. This would give him a fighting chance of staying on.

RULING: The court ruled that the company be wound up and the rival Yeo faction agreed not to oust Mr Alan Yeo. This meant that Yeo Hiap Seng shares held by this holding company were distributed among many family members.

With the family mired in factional fighting, Mr Ng Teng Fong's Orchard Parade Holdings started buying up Yeo Hiap Seng's shares on the open market. Eventually, Mr Ng gained control and Mr Alan Yeo left the board

3. Brother files suit over Yeo family properties

PLAYERS: Years later, brothers Charles and Henry Yeo went to court over family properties. They are the sons of Yeo Chee Kiat, who is the grandson of Yeo Hiap Seng founder Yeo Keng Lian.

WHAT'S AT STAKE: Detached house in Sian Tuan Avenue, semi-detached house in Watten Terrace, detached house in Hua Guan Avenue and a portfolio of stocks and shares.

DISPUTE: Madam Ng Lay Hua had willed a house each to the sons of her elder son Charles in 2002. She later cut the two grandchildren out completely and, instead, left the two houses to her younger son Henry, whom she also appointed as the sole executor.

Madam Ng, a Christian, had told family members that she was not leaving her grandson any inheritance as she was disappointed he had married a non-Christian and did not attend church regularly.

RULING: The High Court found in 2016 that Madam Ng had the necessary mental capacity to make her last will. The judge also noted that Madam Ng had instructed her lawyer to change the wills; and the will was not prepared on instructions by someone who stood to benefit.

4. Battle over fortune of shipping magnate Ng Teow Yhee

PLAYERS: Mr Sebastian Ng versus his mother Madam Low Ah Cheow, two of his siblings and several nephews.

WHAT'S AT STAKE: The fortune of shipping magnate and philanthropist Ng Teow Yhee, worth about $7 million.

DISPUTE: The elder Mr Ng died in 2001, leaving all his assets to his favourite son, Sebastian, who is one of eight children. It was reported that two of his other sons allegedly gambled heavily and a third had looked to Mr Ng Teow Yhee for financial help. Their mother often asked the father to bail them out. While the elder Mr Ng favoured Sebastian, he continued to provide for his wife and other children.

RULING: The court dismissed the claims in 2007, but this was overturned in 2009 after an appeal. The Court of Appeal decided that the words used in Mr Ng Teow Yhee's will were not clear in showing his intentions. At issue, among other things, were the words "on trust" which had appeared in a key clause in the will and had been capitalised and underlined. The Court of Appeal queried if this meant Mr Sebastian Ng was to hold the estate in trust for the rest of the family members.

5. Siblings tussle over $4m house

PLAYERS: Three siblings, Mr Foo Jee Seng, Madam Foo Li Li and Mr Foo Jee Boo, took their brother Mr Foo Jhee Tuang to court.

WHAT'S AT STAKE: $4 million house in Kembangan

DISPUTE: Trio want brother, who is the trustee of the house, to sell the 10-room property. They claimed it no longer generated enough rental income to justify holding on to it. The three siblings also wanted to use their share of the sale proceeds to fund their medical and living expenses.

RULING: Judge ruled in 2011 that the will clearly gave the brother the discretion to postpone the sale indefinitely and share the rental income among the siblings instead. The court of appeal overturned this in 2012 after the court noted that none of the siblings had lived in the house and the proceeds from the rental were "paltry". That went against the overall intention of the will, which was to provide for all the beneficiaries.

6. Mother wants share of daughter's home

PLAYERS: Mother Madam Ang Ah Sew and her daughter Neo Hui Ling

WHAT'S AT STAKE: Three-storey house in Jalan Chengam

DISPUTE: Retiree hoped to get half of the proceeds from the sale of a house she co-owned with her daughter. Ms Neo paid $1.88 million for the three-storey house, and named her mother as co-owner so it would go to her mother in the event she died first.

Ms Neo invited her mother and sisters, who were living in a flat in Bishan, to move in with her - on the condition that they live in harmony.

But they began squabbling. Ms Neo moved out after her mother and sisters barged into her bedroom one night with six strangers to perform "religious rites to cleanse" the room. When she moved to sell the house, her mother - using her position as co-owner - blocked the sale.

RULING: Judge ruled in 2011 that the mother had no claim to any of the proceeds - the sum of nearly $1 million was to be handed over to her daughter.

This article was first published on December 2, 2016.
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HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 5 December 2016 - After stiff competition at the two-day finals of HITCON CTF 2016, Cykorkinesis from Korea won the championship and prize money of US$10,000, and will advance directly to the finals of DEF CON 2017 in the US. The runner-up and third place were respectively LC ↯ BC from Russia and PPP from the US, each winning prize money of US$5,000 and US$2,000. The prize money was sponsored together by MediaTek, Magicapital, and Hope Bay Mobile.

Alan Lee in charge of HITCON CTF 2016 noted three distinctive features of the 2016 event: 1) An international contest taking place physically in Taiwan for two consecutive years, 2) the qualifying CTF organized by Taiwan for two consecutive years for DEF CON, 3) worldwide entries' almost total satisfaction with the CTF in Taiwan. The finalist teams included PPP from the US, LC ↯BC from Russia, Cykorkinesis from Korea, Shellphish from the US, TokyoWesterns from Japan, CLGT from Vietnam, !SpamAndHex from Hungary, PwnThyBytes from Romania, KAIST Gon from Korea, 0ops from Mainland China, Dispwnable and Hacker Forge from Taiwan, and p4 from Poland. "In the second morning of the CTF, competition escalated drastically as all the teams launched their all-out offensives that they developed by staying up at night," said Alan Lee. "PPP from the US made the first kill, gained on LC↯BC, and advanced to the second place temporarily. The competition among entries was very intense."

Moreover, something amazing about the CTF was an application with three zero-day vulnerabilities identified. According to Orange who created a web challenge called WebRop, the challenge was based on the open source application SugarCRM and features of SugarCRM which Orange used to hacked this application with. The WebRop challenge leveraged the real-world environment of SugarCRM and tried to induce more ways of vulnerability utilization and zero-day vulnerabilities. As a result, LC ↯BC first hacked a zero-day vulnerability of the application and then PPP and Cykorkinesis hacked other vulnerabilities. "As long as I am sure there are solutions to the questions I give, entries will find different ways out or hack the vulnerabilities they identify," said Orange. "This is best way to maximize question effectiveness."

According to onsite observers, the event organizer not only designed game animations to provide real-time contest updates but also set up Internet of Things development board-controlled lighting to animatedly and immediately inform audiences of each and every team being attacked. Moreover, the comprehensive and in-depth questions raised this time evidenced those who provided the questions are very experienced in such contests, while the challenge categories including Pwnable, Reverse, Web, Forensic, Cryptography, and Misc. required entries to be very attentive, cautious, and improvisatory in order to overcome their challenges.

This time HITCON CTF and HITCON Pacific took place at the same time, inviting information security experts as well as hackers from around the world to develop an international technology exchange platform for Taiwan to help local information security talents keep abreast with their international peers, stimulate the development of hacker communities on and off campus, and expedite information security innovation.

Winning Teams

Team

Country

Ranking

Profile

Cykorkinesis

Korea

Champion entitled to  prize money of US$10,000 and direct advancement to the finals of DEF CON 2017 in the US 。

HITCON CTF 2015 champion too

LC ↯ BC

Russia

Runner-up entitled to prize money of US$5,000

Organized by information security research and CTF contest enthusiasts  

PPP

US

Third place entitled to prize money of US$2,000

A Carnegie Mellon University CTF team organized six years ago

About HITCON

Entering its twelfth year, HITCON has won the respect and support from different sectors of Taiwan. In order to speed up its growth, HITCON organized itself as an association approved by the government in 2015, and 2016 is the first anniversary of the association, Different events, contests, and many other activities organized by HITCON are intended to provide more room for development of information security talents in Taiwan, call more business attention to the importance of information security, and convey the correct concepts about information security in order to prompt the government and private sector as well as hacker communities to together enhance information security for Taiwan.

The Singapore Airbnb host is not raking in the big money.

In fact, he earns only about $5,120 a year.

On average, he receives guests for just 45 nights each year.

"There is a thought that this is a full-time occupation," Airbnb's Asia Pacific regional director Julian Persaud told The Straits Times last week.

"(But) the average amount of time our hosts are renting out is like three or four days a month."

Revealing its Singapore numbers for the first time, Mr Persaud said that the reality of its Singapore operations is a unique one, where home rentals shorter than six months are deemed illegal.

Because of this, home-sharing businesses have had to tread a fine line - as opposed to other markets where hosting has become a lucrative business, with many earning high four-figure monthly earnings.

Despite this, Airbnb, one of the biggest players in the market, has about 7,000 property listings here as of last month.

Some 242,400 visitors have also checked into Airbnb lodgings here in the past year.

The San Francisco-based firm also set up its regional headquarters in Singapore in 2012.

But concerns over the side effects of home sharing have plagued the sector, with residents raising concerns about safety and noise from transient tourists in their backyard.

Hotels have also questioned hygiene and safety standards of unregulated accommodation.

And Mr Persaud stressed that safety is the "number one" priority for Airbnb.

"The most important to us is the safety of our community. And if we don't have that, we don't have a business," he said, adding that the portal has a slew of measures to mitigate any potential issues. These include a verified identification process for guests and hosts and reviews for both parties.

In June, it also rolled out a new Neighbour Tool which allows neighbours of hosts to flag any concerns they have about Airbnb listings.

When asked for the number of reported cases via this tool in Singapore, Mr Persaud said it was "negligible".

He added that problems arising from Airbnb arrangements are generally rare.

Of the 17 million tourists who used Airbnb last summer, there were fewer than 300 urgent customer service calls, he said.

Mr John Kim, president of Texas-based vacation rental site HomeAway, also said that complaints about disturbances from guests are "very much the exception".

HomeAway, which comes under parent company Expedia, lets hosts rent out only whole homes.

Public sentiment is likely to feature prominently in the debate on whether home sharing in Singapore will be given the green light.

Last year, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) ran a public consultation to see whether there was a need to review short-term rental rules for private housing.

It said in May this year that it needs more time to study the matter as views are split.

Those in favour of short rentals argue that it can help boost tourism and cultural exchanges between hosts and guests.

Noting that 78 per cent of Airbnb listings are outside main tourist areas such as Orchard, Mr Persaud said home rentals can bring tourist dollars into other areas.

LOOKING FOR CLARITY

"We're very keen for them (the URA) to kind of push forward and make a ruling on it because I think our guests and hosts and community of Singaporeans that want to rent out their homes on an occasional basis... are looking for clarity," Mr Persaud said.

The Government has hinted that there could be room for regulations to co-exist with home sharing here.

National Development Minister Lawrence Wong told The Straits Times in October that while he understands the misgivings about home sharing, attitudes may change and Singapore is not closing the door on it.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at the APEC CEO Summit in Peru last month that old rules may no longer be relevant to disruptive economic activities such as Airbnb, but stressed that regulations are still necessary.

Mr Persaud said he hopes his company can adopt a collaborative approach with regulators here.

He said: "We know that in Singapore it's kind of a unique situation of the housing stock (where public housing forms the majority of homes).

"It's very different from most of the world actually in terms of that and we're very cognizant of that.

"We as a company and as an organisation have a broad mission where people can belong.

"And... the last thing we want to do is to promote any sort of issues in the local community."

Read also: Airbnb's new Singapore office offers "trip around the world in minutes"

This article was first published on December 06, 2016.
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Techies are in demand here.

Studies by recruitment firms show a spike in hiring activity in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector.

The Monster Employment Index, which tracks online job posting activities on a monthly basis, found a 25 per cent year-on-year growth in hiring activity for software, hardware and telecommunications jobs.

Recruitment firm Robert Walters spotted a 24 per cent rise in hiring activity for the IT job market for the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.

Still, Singapore is struggling to keep up with this booming sector, which has some 30,000 jobs to be filled by 2020, experts told The New Paper yesterday.

The problem lies in the mismatch of skills, said Minister for Manpower Lim Swee Say.

At the TechSkills Accelerator Career Services Day in October, he said: "Even if the jobseekers know what ICT jobs they want, they may not have the skills, expertise and experience needed.

"This applies to not just the newcomers, but also those with some years of ICT experience. The fast pace of technological change means many need to re-learn so as to remain in or re-enter the ICT sector."

The skills mismatch means the ICT jobs may be "shoes that are too big to fill" for those not equipped with the right skills, said Mr Erman Tan, president of Singapore Human Resource Institute.

People also tend to associate ICT jobs with long hours and low pay, said Mr Patrick Thng, an information systems senior lecturer at Singapore Management University (SMU).

With Singapore looking to countries such as India to plug the manpower gap, the influx of foreign workers has led to lower wages, causing local graduates to shun it.

Mr Thng said: "We haven't been producing enough students with some of these deep technical skills... Fewer people are attracted to these courses because the perception is that the hours are long, and the pay is not so good in such jobs."

But the situation is looking up, he said. At SMU, there is a heightened interest for the Information Systems undergraduate course.

"As students get to see successful start-ups - the Googles and Alibabas of the world - they get more excited about getting into innovation, ICT and start-ups," Mr Thng said.

For mid-career professionals looking for a change in the ICT sector, they can look to initiatives such as the place-and-train Professional Conversion Programme, which trains mid-career switchers to become ICT professionals.

Mr Tan suggested those seeking ICT jobs talk to someone in the sector.

"Understand the pros and cons of the trade, and what to expect, and be mentally prepared for the new challenges.

"As long as they have the willpower and the right mindset, they will be able to turn those challenges into something positive," he said.

This article was first published on December 06, 2016.
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Rumours swirled on social media on Tuesday that China's currency dropped sharply in overnight trade, but the purported move may have been an isolated hiccup from some providers.

Some currency data providers were showing that the yuan tumbled, with the dollar fetching as much as 7.49 yuan (S$1.42) in overnight trade.

It wasn't clear if the data were indicating the offshore yuan or the onshore currency, but the onshore currency does not trade overnight.

That would have been an 8.8 per cent rise for the currency pair from the onshore close of 6.8830, according to Reuters data.

China's central bank does not allow the currency to move more than 2 per cent from its daily fixing in onshore trade.

While policymakers can not closely control offshore trade of the currency, it usually remains relatively close to its onshore counterpart.

Data charts on Google and currency-data provider and money transfer service XE showed the short-lived blip.

An email to XE sent outside office hours wasn't immediately returned.

Dow Jones reported that UK-based brokerage and data provider ICAP was the source for the data.

A call to ICAP's Singapore office went unanswered and it didn't immediately return an emailed request for comment.

An email to a Google representative wasn't immediately returned.

Google's data chart indicated that the data source was data provider SIX Financial Information.

A call to SIX's Singapore office went unanswered and an emailed request for comment wasn't immediately returned.

Analysts generally indicated to CNBC that they hadn't seen any sign of the drop.

Reuters data didn't show anything close, indicating that the offshore dollar/yuan's high for the year was at 6.9650 and the onshore yuan's was at 6.9210.

Sean Yokota, head of Asia strategy at SEB, told CNBC that people were sharing a screenshot on Chinese social media platform WeChat showing a mispricing in Google data showing the dollar was fetching 7.4 yuan.

He noted that China's policymakers would likely want to avoid a devaluation of the currency.

Indeed, analysts have recently noted that policymakers have appeared to slow the yuan's fall against the dollar as the greenback surged since the surprise US election win of Donald Trump.

Similarly, Richard Yetsenga, chief economist at ANZ, told CNBC that while there was a lot of chatter, it would be "quite dramatic" if the 7.48 figure were to turn out to be accurate, but he added that it was hard to imagine at this stage.

The apparent hiccup didn't appear to affect trading in the currency on Tuesday.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the yuan midpoint at 6.8575 against the dollar on Tuesday, suggesting a stronger yuan compared with a fix of 6.887 on Monday.

In onshore trade, the dollar was fetching 6.8654 yuan at 10:23 a.m.

HK/SIN, the Chinese currency's strongest against the greenback since mid-November.

Offshore, the dollar was fetching 6.8691 yuan.

HONG KONG - Hong Kong residents hoping to be able to buy homes under a pilot programme that aimed to create affordable housing are finding that they still cannot afford condos being sold at the first complex developed under the programme.

Units at the new One Kai Tak condominium complex are going for from 5.8 million Hong Kong dollars (S$1.07 million) to HK$14.6 million (S$2.68 million), according to the Nikkei Asian Review - noting that a real estate agent says that makes some of them even pricier than similar condos in the area.

The programme under which the One Kai Tak was built is know n as "Hong Kong Property for Hong Kong People" (HKPHKP). It was launched by the Special Administrative Region of China's Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying when he took office in 2012.

With more than 7.3 million people living in its 1,100 square kilometres, Hong Kong property prices have consistently ranked as the world's most unaffordable, according to the US-based consultancy Demographia.

The HKPHKP scheme was supposed to keep prices within reach of middle class Hong Kong residents by allowing the developer to sell them to permanent residents, who are not permitted to resell them to anyone who is not a resident for 30 years.

"The Government executed the policy only once when two residential sites in Kai Tak were offered for sale by tender in March last year," the Hong Kong government said in a news release 2014, noting that it sold two residential sites under the pilot scheme.

Built on land that was once occupied by the old Kai Tak Airport in northeastern Kowloon, One Kai Tak was developed by the China Overseas Land & Investment company and is the first one completed under the programme.

Despite the restrictions, however, the Nikkei Asian Review said the company's affiliate, China Overseas Property was inundated with more than 4,200 offers for the first 110 units when they went on sale earlier this year.

So China Overseas Property subsequently raised prices by 2 per cent for the next batch, and its managing director Tony Yau Wai-kwong bluntly told the Review that there was no restrictions on pricing - only on who the company could sell units too.

"This isn't affordable for us," the Review reported one thirty-something couple who visited the showroom as saying. "This property is for wealthy investors."

But another potential buyer whose name was given only as Ms Suen told The Standard newspaper that she thought having a Hong Kong permanent identity card meant there would be a discount. Yet while the prices were still higher than expectedm she said she would still consider buying a condo at One Kai Tak if she liked the layout and facilities, because she was concerned the prices would go even higher by the time the development was completed in 2017.

This article was first published on December 5, 2016.
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Reader Gabriel Tham wrote in to askST: "Why does Singapore not have a mandatory retrenchment benefits scheme?

"First, it will make employers weigh the cost of retrenchment in the short term.

"Second, it will make employers think twice about over-hiring and then abusing the system."

Manpower correspondent Toh Yong Chuan answered:

This issue crops up from time to time, especially during economic slowdowns when retrenchments rise.

The government has always rejected suggestions of making it mandatory for companies to pay retrenchment benefits to workers who are laid off.

It has always maintained that it is not necessary for such payments to be made mandatory because the practice is already widespread.

According to its own surveys, as many as nine in 10 companies who retrenched workers paid such benefits. It would rather give companies and unions the flexibility to negotiate such payments, rather than prescribing it under the law, because the circumstances of companies that retrenched workers are different and there cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach.

This approach is consistent with the longstanding view by the government that if labour laws are rigid, such as making retrenchment payments compulsory, companies will be deterred from hiring workers on the onset and workers will be hurt.

The furthest that the government would go, for now, is to make it compulsory for companies to report to the Ministry of Manpower within five working days of laying off workers. The new rule, which kicks in from Jan 1, will make sure that retrenched workers get timely help, the government said when it announced the new rule last month.

The pressure on the government to make retrenchment payments compulsory will continue to increase. As workers become more educated, they will want to see their rights protected. The government will have to balance the desire for more protection by workers against the flexibility that it gives companies in hiring and firing.

This article was first published on December 5, 2016.
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GIC is investing 3.5 trillion rupiah (S$370 million) in Indonesian cinema operator PT Nusantara Sejahtera Raya (NSR) as the Singapore sovereign wealth fund hopes to capture a slice of Indonesia's economic growth.

The investment is intended to help NSR further anchor its market position and to prepare for the next stage of growth, GIC and NSR said in a press release.

"The investment by GIC reflects our confidence in Indonesia's long-term growth potential," said Amit Kunal, GIC's head of direct investments group for South-east Asia, private equity and infrastructure.

"NSR's operational expertise and portfolio of high quality cinemas positions it well to benefit from the rapidly expanding consumer class and economic development in Indonesia. We look forward to working with the team at NSR to accelerate its presence nationally and to achieve the vision of providing best-in-class cinematic experience to the country."

NSR owns the Cinema 21, Cinema XXI and The Premiere brands in Indonesia.

The company operated 864 screens in 157 cinemas across 36 cities in the country as at December 2016.

The NSR investment is in line with GIC's stated long-term optimism about the region's economic prospects.

In GIC's investment report in July, the fund noted that it held more emerging market equities than a reference portfolio.

About 19 per cent of the fund's portfolio was invested in emerging market equities as at March 31, 2016, up slightly from the 18 per cent allocation a year earlier.

"We have assessed that emerging market equities will benefit from the sustained structural improvements in these economies, and contribute positively to the long-term real returns of the GIC portfolio," GIC said.

"We have maintained this assessment even though emerging market equities have underperformed developed market equities in recent years."

The worldwide cinema industry is expected to continue to grow over the next few years, with Asia-Pacific outpacing the global average, according to an analysis by PwC.

In a recent report, PwC estimated that the Asia-Pacific cinema business could grow at a rate of 11.8 per cent per year from US$14.2 billion in 2015 to US$24.7 billion in 2020.

The expected global average is a more modest 5.8 per cent per year over the same period.

Box office sales in the region are estimated to grow at 12 per cent per year through 2020, about double the global outlook of 5.8 per cent per year.

Asia-Pacific cinema advertising is expected to grow at 6 per cent every year through 2020, more than two times faster than the expected global average of 2.8 per cent.

This article was first published on December 06, 2016.
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Howard Schultz, the legendary leader of Starbucks coffee, is a billionaire three times over. He's a titan in the corporate world and he has significant sway in the political arena, too. When Schultz talks, Wall Street and Washington D.C. pay attention.

The news that he is stepping down as CEO reverberated through the business world, briefly sending shares of Starbucks stock down as much as 10 per cent. Chief Operating Officer Kevin Johnson will become CEO on April 3, 2017; Schultz will focus on turning the company's new line of high-end coffee shops into destination restaurants.

When Schultz steps down in 2017, it will be the second time: He served as CEO from 1987 to 2000 and then returned to take the helm in 2008.

This time, despite Schultz's denials, the announcement has triggered rampant speculation that Schultz, who is a fan of President Barack Obama and publicly supported Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, is preparing for a run for president of the United States in 2020.

If he did run, it would be the culmination of Schultz's classic rags-to-riches story.

Humble beginnings

Schultz, 63 years old, was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in federally subsidized housing in hardscrabble Canarsie.

His father Fred never graduated from high school and held a series of blue-collar jobs including truck driver, factory worker and cab driver. He never made more than $20,000 a year, and with three children to feed, Fred was never able to afford to buy a home.

Schultz talks affectionately about his father in his book, "Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time," saying that Fred was an honest man who worked hard, played ball with his kids on the weekend and loved the Yankees.

But he also says that his father was "a beaten man." His father "had tried to fit into the system, but the system had crushed him. With low self-esteem, he had never been able to climb out of the hole and improve his life."

When his father broke his ankle at work in 1961, Fred couldn't go to work. That meant he didn't get paid. His mother was seven months pregnant at the time and couldn't work either. When bill collectors called, Schultz or his siblings were instructed to pick up the phone and pretend that their parents weren't home.

"Our family had no income, no health insurance, no worker's compensation, nothing to fall back on," writes Schultz. He didn't know then that he would become a businessman and job-creator, but, he says, "I knew in my heart that if I was ever in a position where I could make a difference, I wouldn't leave people behind."

Schultz went on to graduate from Northern Michigan University, which he attended on a full football scholarship. He became the first person to graduate college in his family. He writes, "To my parents, I had attained the big prize: a diploma."

Before Starbucks, Schultz worked in sales and marketing at Xerox for three years. He went on to be the Vice President and General Manager of Hammarplast USA., a Swedish housewares company.

Rising through the ranks

Schultz moved from New York to Seattle to join Starbucks in 1982 as director of operations and marketing. Back then, the company only had four stores.

In 1983, Schulz travelled to Italy, where he admired the way the espresso bars in Milan serve as a place for people to meet and share time together outside of the home or the office. He left Starbucks and started his own company, Il Giornale coffeehouses.

In 1987, Schultz returned to Starbucks to buy the coffee shop with the help of a few investors. He also took over as CEO. At that point, there were 17 store locations. Today, there are more than 25,000 Starbucks locations across 75 countries, and more than 300,000 people work at the coffee company.

Schultz navigated the company through tremendous growth while remaining socially conscious. In 1988, Schultz made a commitment to offer health insurance to eligible full- and part-time workers, including all domestic partners of employees. Also, Schultz decided to give "partners" (his employees) stock in the company, called "Bean stock."

In 2013, Schultz made a commitment to hire 10,000 veterans and military spouses by the end of 2018. He's hired more than 8,000 so far.

Also, Starbucks has shipped 60 pallets of coffee and 175,000 sticks of instant coffee to troops overseas. His own personal Schultz Family Foundation has committed US$30 million (S$42.6 million) to helping veterans transitioning into the civilian workforce.

A leading voice

Schultz is gracious in deflecting the spotlight.

"Starbucks has been in business now for 45-plus years. You know, I'm not putting myself in the class of Tom Brady or any other athlete that has been at the cornerstone of success on a team sport," Schultz tells CNBC. "This is a team sport. It has always been a team sport. I've gotten more credit that I deserve. The company has a large base of fantastic leaders."

Still, Schultz is largely seen as the smarts behind much of Starbucks' success and its evolution into a global brand.

He has accumulated a stack of awards, including the Distinguished Leadership Award from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, the Horatio Alger Award for those who have overcome adversity to achieve success, the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Business Ethics given by Notre Dame University's Mendoza College of Business, the Botwinick Prize in Business Ethics from Columbia Business School, and the first-ever John Wooden Global Leadership Award from UCLA Anderson School of Management.

He's also a best-selling author. After his first book was well-received, Schultz published "For Love of Country: What Our Veterans Can Teach Us About Citizenship, Heroism, and Sacrifice" (2014) and "Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul" (2011).

Schultz's inspiring journey involves a bit of luck, he admits, but it has also been the result of a fierce determination and unwavering persistence.

"I willed it to happen," he says. "I took my life in my hands, learned from anyone I could, grabbed what opportunity I could, and molded my success step by step."

HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - Dec 6, 2016 - China Telecom Global (CTG), the international operating subsidiary of China Telecom Corporation (China Telecom), a leading integrated information service provider in China, has selected the Djibouti Data Center (DDC), to help facilitate network expansion, co-location and submarine fiber cable access services in East Africa. 

The Djibouti Data Center has been built to Tier III data center standards and serves as a major meeting point for submarine fiber cable systems including the new Southeast Asia-Middle East -- Western Europe (SEA-ME-WE 5) submarine cable designed to connect Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Western Europe. China Telecom Global is a founding member of the consortium for SEA-ME-WE 5, which is expected to be ready for service in late 2016.

Mr. Liu Changhai, Managing Director of China Telecom (Africa and Middle East) Limited, a subsidiary of CTG, said, "The cooperation with DDC is a significant component of our overall commitment to contributing to the digital evolution and economic development of Africa. The addition of SEA-ME-WE 5 to CTG's existing fiber cable assets in the region is a significant milestone that marks a new page for the company's regional strategic planning in accordance to the Belt and Road Initiative. With our abundant and further expanded network resources, we can better serve our MNC clients and Carrier partners in Djibouti, Ethiopia and other countries in East Africa." 

The SEA-ME-WE 5 will span approximately 20,000kms and employ 100Gbps technology, with initial system capacity of 24 terabits to provide customers with low-latency and direct connectivity. It will further enhance the diversity and agility in the growing demand for Asia, Africa, Middle East and Western Europe routes around the world.

The system is designed as a multiregional super highway, and will connect Djibouti with China, via 18 landing points located in Singapore, Pakistan, UAE, Oman, Egypt, Italy, France and etc.

Mr. Anthony Voscarides, Chief Executive Officer of Djibouti Data Center, said: "The addition of the SEA-ME-WE 5 cable system further establishes DDC as the leading carrier-neutral data center hub in East Africa serving global and regional telecommunication companies, MNOs, ISPs and CDN providers." 

Mr. Voscarides added: "We are very pleased that CTG will be joining the DDC ecosystem, as it further enables the development and introduction of new services that will help drive economic and social well-being in the region."

The DDC is uniquely positioned in East Africa and will enable China Telecom Global to establish cross-connect and co-location facilities directly adjacent to Djibouti Telecom's cable landing stations. 

In addition to supporting SEA-ME-WE 5 in the near future, the DDC provides access to fiber-cable systems such as AAE 1, EIG, EASSy, Aden-Djibouti and Ethiopia-Djibouti.

About China Telecom Global Limited

China Telecom Global Limited (CTG) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Telecom munications Corporation Limited for managing its international businesses. Established in 2012 and headquartered in Hong Kong and Beijing, CTG leverages the abundant resources in mainland China, connecting the Asia Pacific region to the world. CTG has subsidiaries and affiliates in 31 countries and regions, 68 overseas PoPs, 45 OTN nodes, and delivers more than 20T in international connectivity bandwidth and intercontinental capacity. CTG also has resources on 38 submarine cables, while participating in the construction of more than 10. With the direct connections with more than 10 neighbouring countries and regions via terrestrial cables, CTG has mapped out a global service and capacity network. Targeting international carriers, multinational corporations and overseas Chinese consumers, CTG provides customised and cost-effective integrated communications solutions and diversified telecom services to cater to their global business needs. Its services include direct access, internet transit, data services, broadband, unified communications, internet data center, cloud computing, ICT services, fixed and mobile voice and value-added services, professional services and industry solutions, telecom operation consultancy, and service outsourcing.

For more information on CTG, please visit www.chinatelecomglobal.com

About the Djibouti Data Center (DDC)

The Djibouti Data Center (DDC) is the first and only Tier 3 carrier-neutral data center ecosystem in East Africa with direct access to all major international and regional fiber optic systems connecting Europe, the Middle East, and Asia markets with Africa -- including upcoming Sea-Me-We5 and AAE1. The DDC also operates the Djibouti Internet Exchange (DjIX), a neutral and independent IXP in Africa.  The DjIX offers high speed, reliable, and resilient service. Both the DDC and DjIX are catalysts in east Africa that enable new applications and services that help to drive economic development and social well-being in the region. 

Learn more about the DDC products and services at www.djiboutidatacenter.com

Relatives of Malaysian businessman Low Taek Jho are seeking fresh court action in a bid to prevent the US government from seizing assets as part of an investigation into the scandal-tainted 1MDB fund, according to a US court filing.

Four relatives of Low Taek Jho are planning to file court actions in New Zealand and the Cayman Islands this week to have real estate and other assets transferred to a new trustee, according to a motion on Monday in federal court in Los Angeles.

The motion seeks to push a hearing on the case out to a later date, noting that there is an effort to take the case to courts in New Zealand and the Cayman Islands.

The businessman, commonly referred to as Jho Low, is among the people named in civil lawsuits filed earlier this year by the US Department of Justice, which alleged that more than US$3.5 billion (S$5 billion) was misappropriated from the 1MDB fund.

According to the filing, the move to try courts elsewhere came after the US government opposed a prior attempt by the Low relatives to transfer the assets to a new trustee. The government had argued, among other things, that the courts of New Zealand and the Cayman Islands were the proper venue for that request.

SINGAPORE - Singapore's job market may be tight at the moment, but it appears that engineering talent remains very much in demand.

Technology firm Dyson announced in a statement on Wednesday (Dec 7) that it is looking to expand its presence in Singapore by hiring about 200 more engineers in the next few years.

The British family-owned company joins a growing list of companies and organisations seeking engineering talent in Singapore, including the Government, transport operators SMRT and SBS Transit, and tech giant Google.

Dyson, best known for its vacuum cleaners, hand dryers, bladeless fans and supersonic hair dryers, currently has about 800 employees here. Of these, nearly half are engineers.

Now, plans are afoot to further ramp up its engineering capabilities by growing its team in Singapore by 50 per cent. "We have plans for our engineers here to step up in developing the next frontier of Dyson technology, in close collaboration with our team in the UK," revealed Scott Maguire, the company's global engineering director.

According to Mr Maguire, the company hires professionals from across a range of engineering disciplines, including mechanical and design engineers, electronics engineers, motors and power systems engineers and software engineers.

The company also said that it was looking to hire young engineers fresh out of university, including those with no prior experience.

"Technology does not develop itself. We depend on the many bright young minds from Singapore and wider Southeast Asia who are bold enough to push the boundaries and to challenge engineering norms," said Mr Maguire, who divulged that the average age of the company's engineers is 26.

But Mr Maguire stressed that the company will welcome applicants from all backgrounds and experiences. "In particular, we're looking for people who have a fire in their belly, are passionate about solving everyday problems and most importantly, are brave enough to try out new ideas without the fear of failure," he said.

Besides expanding its team, Dyson is also planning to open a new technology centre here next year to support its research and engineering efforts.

Further announcements about the new facility, including its location, will be made next year. "We are set to make a key announcement in 2017 - covering the specific role that the technology centre will play, and accordingly the types of people we hope to bring into the state-of-the-art facility," Mr Maguire said.

The company is also keeping coy on the kinds of technology that they will be working on. "Let's just say we're not limited by our imagination. We're constantly looking for new and better solutions to solve age-old problems. People in Singapore will simply have to wait and see what we have up our sleeves," he added.

In its statement, Dyson explained that it's decision to expand its presence here was due to the quality and availability of enigneering talent in Singapore, and because the city-state and the company shared a similar "underdog" mindset.

"The Government is embarking on a nationwide plan to tackle the world's challenges with 'smart city' technologies through the Smart Nation initiative. This forward-thinking approach has made Singapore a hotbed of many popular global technologies companies and an attractive destination for cutting-edge technology to be developed," a spokesperson said.

Dyson, which was founded by inventor James Dyson in 1991, now hires over 2,000 engineers globally and spends £5 million (S$9 million) a week on research, design and development. Last year, it recorded a turnover of £1.7 billion, with its business in the Asia Pacific region growing by 50 per cent.

seanyap@sph.com.sg

CENTENNIAL, Colo. - Media OutReach - 7 December 2016 - Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:ARW) announced a new agreement with Vodafone , a global market leader for cellular network services and managed internet of things (IoT) connectivity.  Arrow will market Vodafone's IoT services as part of its eVolve IoT offering.

"Vodafone's solutions and services expand and enhance Arrow's go-to-market strategy in the fast-growing market segments within IoT. Our extensive IoT technology solutions stack and professional services are now complemented with differentiated network services from a global leader".

The combination of Arrow and Vodafone solutions creates a compelling offering with global network coverage, wireless and embedded edge technology, system integration, data platform and cloud integration, enterprise computing, IoT edge device connectivity and application enablement for millions of connected devices. The agreement will allow Arrow to market and resell network services tailored for customer applications. An example of this is the availability of 2G low data rate SIM connectivity for M2M applications.

"Vodafone's solutions and services expand and enhance Arrow's go-to-market strategy in the fast-growing market segments within IoT. Our extensive IoT technology solutions stack and professional services are now complemented with differentiated network services from a global leader," said Aiden Mitchell, vice president of IoT Solutions at Arrow.

Vodafone Director of IoT Ivo Rook added, "The ecosystem around IoT is going to be critical to the long term success of the technology. I believe that this kind of relationship with Arrow will lead to ongoing success for both organizations and the market more widely."

About Arrow Electronics

Arrow Electronics is a global provider of products, services and solutions to industrial and commercial users of electronic components and enterprise computing solutions. Arrow serves as a supply channel partner for more than 100,000 original equipment manufacturers, contract manufacturers and commercial customers through a global network of more than 460 locations serving over 85 countries. Learn more at www.fiveyearsout.com.

About Vodafone Group

Vodafone is one of the world's largest telecommunications companies and provides a range of services including voice, messaging, data and fixed communications. Vodafone has mobile operations in 26 countries, partners with mobile networks in 49 more, and fixed broadband operations in 17 markets. As of 30 September 2016, Vodafone had 470 million mobile customers and 14 million fixed broadband customers. For more information, please visit: www.vodafone.com.

Back in November 2006, a masterplan regional corridor for economic development was launched in the Southern Malaysian state of Johor.

At about three times the size of Singapore, Iskandar Malaysia has already attracted tens of billions of ringgit in investments and is expected to become an engine for comprehensive development for Malaysia as a whole.

Ten years on, the development continues to benefit from an influx of interest from foreign investors. But is it really a good place for you to invest your money in?

How does it matter to Singaporeans?

With one of the highest property prices in the world, Singapore is a very expensive place to live and work in. Many Singaporeans live in Johor as a result and commute back and forth for work.

So, when Iskandar Malaysia was in development, property prices per square foot did not even come up to one third the price of a similar property in Singapore. So it makes sense for Singaporeans to invest in the promising Iskandar region, whether it is as a primary home or secondary property for investment.

However, before putting in all your hard-earned savings in this up and coming region, here's what you need to know about property in Iskandar:

You need to be in it for the long run

Since Iskandar is still in its infancy as a township, you have to consider that the appreciation of your own property will not happen till much later.

And if you're buying a unit in Iskandar for investment, then be prepared to wait for at least ten years before the property rises to a level that will result in a profitable sale opportunity.

So, be sure you can afford to wait.

Does the currency exchange matter?

The exchange rate of the Malaysian Ringgit against the Singaporean dollar is of great importance when considering any investment decision across the border and its profitability. Usually, a depreciation of the Ringgit makes property in Iskandar less expensive for Singaporeans, but this also affects the returns on investment.

But as long as the appreciation of the property outweighs the depreciation of the Ringgit, you still stand to make a profit.

Increase in the minimum threshold of property price for foreigners

There was a time when non-Malaysians could purchase any property if it sold for RM500,000 (S$160,470) or above. In 2015, that figure was increased to RM1 million.

Potential Singaporean investors need to bear in mind the possibility that this limit may be raised again in the future, which might make it impossible to sell off recently purchased units in the short run. As an investor, one must be willing to wait it out until the property market picks up again to be able to make a decent profit out of their investment.

The price floor for foreign buyers of property may be abrogated altogether in the future given the volatile nature of the market.

Improved connectivity to boost the property market in Iskandar?

With the High Speed Rail (HSR) linking Kuala Lumpur to Singapore estimated to be completed by around 2025, and the Rapid Transit System (RTS) connecting Johor Bahru (JB) to Singapore expected to come online in 2019, Singaporean investors will find it much easier to commute to and from Johor.

Malaysians who would like to work in Singapore to earn in Singapore dollars but spend in Malaysian Ringgit can live in Johor and commute to and from Singapore, as well. The HSR and RTS is also expected to push up prices of property in Iskandar and Johor Bahru.

Iskandar is also starting to see more investments flowing in from manufacturing, logistics, electronics, oleochemicals and petrochemicals, healthcare, finance, food processing, tourism and education. Over RM150 billion in investment commitments were made in Iskandar by 2015, with more slated to come.

ZUU Online aims to help individuals enhance their financial literacy and deepen understanding of the investment arena.

HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - Dec 07, 2016 - Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704 ; TSE: 4704 ), a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, today released its annual security prediction report, "The Next Tier -- 8 Security Predictions for 2017." The upcoming year will include an increased breadth and depth of attacks, with malicious threat actors differentiating their tactics to capitalize on the changing technology landscape.

"Next year will take the cybersecurity industry into new territory after 2016's threat landscape opened doors for cybercriminals to explore a wider range of attacks and attack surfaces," said Raimund Genes, chief technology officer for Trend Micro. " We foresee the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) causing extensive data management changes for companies around the world, new attack methods threatening corporations, expanding ransomware tactics impacting more devices and cyber-propaganda swaying public opinion."

In 2016, there was a large increase in Apple ® vulnerabilities, with 50 disclosed, along with 135 Adobe bugs and 76 affecting Microsoft. This apparent shift in exploits against vulnerable software will continue in 2017 as Microsoft's mitigations continue to improve and Apple is seen as a more prominent operating system.

The Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) will play a larger role in targeted attacks in 2017. These attacks will capitalize upon the growing acceptance of connected devices by exploiting vulnerabilities and unsecured systems to disrupt business processes, as we saw with Mirai. The increasing use of mobile devices to monitor control systems in manufacturing and industrial environments will be combined with the significant number of vulnerabilities found in these systems to pose threats to organizations.

Business Email Compromise (BEC) and Business Process Compromise (BPC) will continue to grow as a cost-effective and relatively simple form of corporate extortion. A BEC attack might yield $140,000 by luring an innocent employee to transfer money to a criminal's account. Alternatively, hacking directly into a financial transaction system, while requiring more work, will result in far greater financial windfalls for criminals -- as much as $81 million.

"We continue to see cybercriminals evolving to the changing technology landscape," said Ed Cabrera, c hief cybersecurity officer for Trend Micro. "While new ransomware saw an exponential increase in 2016, that growth is no longer sustainable, so attackers will find new ways to use existing malware families. Similarly, changes in IoT open new doors to go after additional attack surfaces, and software changes push criminals toward finding different types of flaws."

Highlights from the 2017 predications report include:

To obtain Trend Micro's 2017 threat predictions, visit HERE .

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cyber security solutions, helps to make the world safe for exchanging digital information.  Our innovative solutions for consumers, businesses, and governments provide layered security for data centers, cloud environments, networks, and endpoints. All our products work together to seamlessly share threat intelligence and provide a connected threat defense with centralized visibility and control, enabling better, faster protection. With more than 5,000 employees in over 50 countries and the world's most advanced global threat intelligence, Trend Micro enables users to enjoy their digital lives safely.  For more information, visit www.trendmicro.com.hk .