HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - Dec 7, 2016 - China Telecom Global Limited (CTG) and Nepal Telecom, the major operator in Nepal, have reached an agreement to deliver IP services in Nepal, with the 2016 newly launched terrestrial cable route connecting China and Nepal via Jilong (Rasuwa ) Gateway.

Over the years, China Telecom has been fully committed to developing terrestrial cable connecting to neighbouring countries. The new China-Nepal route is unprecedented as it is a new direct alternative route for traffic demand generated from Nepal to all over the world, and provides the highest quality service and low latency solution for end users in Nepal. 

Ou Yan, Executive Vice President of CTG, said, "China Telecom is dedicated to expanding our footprint by connecting with neighbouring countries. The China-Nepal route could provide service to Nepal and transit service from India. China Telecom has put tremendous effort into building the route through the Himalayas. We are committed to delivering a state of the art route for Nepal Telecom."

Kamini Rajbhandari, Managing Director of Nepal Telecom, said "Nepal Telecom would benefit from an additional route for connectivity. We are confident that China Telecom would provide reliable service and are looking forward to establishing Nepal as a transit hub through this route. "

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 Nepal Doorsanchar Company Limited (Nepal Telecom )

Nepal Telecom (NT) is state owned telecommunication service provider in Nepal with 92% of the government share. The central office of Nepal Telecom is located at Bhadrakali Plaza, Kathmandu. Established formally as Mohan Akasvani in 1948, it was converted to a fully owned Government Corporation - Nepal Telecommunications Corporation in 1975 AD and later on, transformed into a public limited company Nepal Doorsanchar Company Limited on April 13, 2014. However the company is known to the general public by the brand name Nepal Telecom. Targeting international carriers for direct connection, NT has setup different POP locations in Hong Kong, Singapore and Doha. NT's services include Voice and Data through different technologies like GSM, CDMA, Wimax, NGN, ADSL, and FTTH. It is one of the largest corporations of Nepal and is the sole provider of fixed line and Wi-Max services in Nepal. Nepal Telecom has more than 35 direct voice connections and more than 273 TADIG for roaming all over the world. As of NT MIS September 2016, NT has 16 million voice and 8 million data subscriber. Nepal Telecom is planning to launch LTE by the January 2017.

For more information on NT, please visit www.ntc.net.np

HONG KONG - Morale in Singapore is at rock bottom. The tiny Southeast Asian nation has worked hard in the 51 years since its birth to establish an outsize voice on the global stage. Now the city's economy is in the doldrums and its influence is in question as China flexes its muscles.

The Lion City is heading for a recession, or two straight quarters of economic contraction, after the trade-reliant economy shrank 2 per cent in the July-September quarter. Overall this year, the government reckons growth will be no faster than 1.5 per cent.

Prime minister Lee Hsien Loong admits low growth may be the "new normal". Some economists call Singapore the new sick man of Asia, supplanting the Philippines, whose economy is now growing almost four times faster.

To make matters worse, high costs are beginning to bite. Dinner party conversation is one symptom of the general lack of confidence in Singapore's direction: the elite joke about packing up and selling one overpriced home for several overseas. A recent UBS survey of top-earning millennials found Singapore's youth among the least confident of achieving their wealth goals.

A wealth of worries

Singapore's top problem is that global demand remains weak. That is taking its toll on export-oriented sectors, especially oil services companies, where there have been high-profile defaults. Finance is a drag too; the sector accounts for about one-eighth of GDP and is suffering from sharp declines. Big names like Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered have pared back local operations.

The pain is most glaring in the equity market, where trading volumes are low and de-listings continue. Companies from Thailand and Malaysia also now typically prefer to float in their home markets. The market value of Singapore's FTSE Straits Times Index is flat, compared to a 34-percentage point increase for Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index over the past five years, Datastream shows.

And while Singapore remains a top private banking centre, its reputation as the "Switzerland of Asia" is problematic. Revelations that money from 1MDB, the disgraced Malaysian sovereign fund, flowed through the city have led to intense regulatory scrutiny. Local authorities closed down the local operations of two private banks this year, and fined others.

Another threat to this key industry comes from larger neighbours like Indonesia and India, as they aggressively crack down on tax dodging. The worry is that citizens will, sooner rather than later, not only declare a large chunk of money but repatriate it too.

Adrift

The sense of vulnerability is acute because economic worries dovetail with political ones. Singapore has traditionally looked to the West on security issues and led its Southeast Asian neighbours in championing closer ties with the United States and Japan. At the same time, it relies on China for trade and tourism, which Natixis reckons amounts to 20 per cent of Singapore's GDP.

That position looks particularly problematic following the election of Donald Trump as the next US president. The former reality star appears unwilling to maintain his predecessor's pivot to Asia and pledges to roll back free-trade deals including the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an agreement Singapore saw as vital to US credibility in the region.

Beijing has been quick to take advantage, using editorials in state newspapers to stress its displeasure at Singapore's continued efforts to play a leadership role in the region. The latest skirmish involves Hong Kong authorities seizing Singaporean military equipment, which the latter insists previously passed through the territory without any problems.

China is also ramping up its cheque-book diplomacy, buying off Southeast Asian countries one by one. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak have both made a show of embracing China over old Western allies, motivated in part by a desire to attract more investment. That leaves Singapore increasingly isolated.

Limited options

The options to fight back are limited. Singapore can let its currency ease in the coming months to support the economy but has no easy fix on the political side, where China has the power to make its problems worse.

Bankers worry, for example, that China might target the island nation as it moves to stem outbound capital flows. Or Beijing might let state-owned enterprises default on borrowings from Singaporean banks; loans to customers in Hong Kong and China account for more than 30 per cent of the total at DBS, the Singaporean lender with a market value of $32bil.

As long as global trade remains weak, the Lion City will struggle to roar.

PETALING JAYA - Bank Negara's foreign exchange reserves fell by US$1.9 billion (S$2.69 billion) to US$96.4 billion from US$98.3 billion as the central bank used its reserves to stem the slide of the ringgit in recent weeks.

"The lower international reserves position reflected the liquidity support in the foreign exchange market," Bank Negara says in a statement.

The admission by Bank Negara that it used its reserves was a rare public admission of intervention. It has been reported that Bank Negara has been entering the forex market to smoothen the ringgit's volatility ever since it started its offensive against the non-deliverable forward market.

Dealers were caught by surprise by the level of foreign reserves as some had forecast the reserves to be lower than what was announced yesterday.

"We were waiting for a breakdown and expected it to be closer to US$90 billion," said a source. Some speculated the amount of dollars spent on defending the ringgit may have been understated by forward sales of the ringgit.

The ringgit has been under pressure ever since Donald Trump won the US presidential election in November, which saw the US dollar surge against currencies around the world in what has been called the Trump effect.

The dollar's strength is premised on the belief that higher spending in the US will be inflationary and hence interest rates will need to rise to combat any spike in inflation.

The flight to the dollar has been especially harsh on emerging markets which have felt the brunt of the dollar's strength. Sell-offs in equity and bond markets were seen across many emerging markets, including Malaysia where foreign investors have been liquidating their portfolio assets for months. Bond yields have risen in Malaysia and the stock market has seen a sell-down. The level of foreign shareholding of Malaysian shares is said to be at a multi-year low.

Maybank Investment Bank group chief economist Suhaimi Illias said the drop in reserves to US$96.4 billion at end-November 2016 from US$98.3billion at mid-November 2016 was consistent with the indication of net portfolio outflows from equity and bond market in view of the foreign sell-offs.

"(Reserves) should stabilise by end-December 2016 as repatriation of export earnings kick in," he said in an email response.

Optimism that Malaysia's foreign exchange reserves will improve stems from the latest Bank Negara ruling whereby 75 per cent of export proceeds by companies must be converted to ringgit. Compelling companies to do so should see a rise in foreign exchange reserves as Malaysian companies only converted 1 per cent of their dollar receipts between 2011 and 2015.

Helping with Malaysia's reserves is the trade balance which was RM7.6 billion (S$2.43 billion) in October this year. For the year-to-date, the trade surplus was almost RM70 billion. The conversions of 75 per cent of that amount will help with the ringgit against foreign currencies.

The Department of Statistics said total trade in October 2016 was valued at RM128.6 billion, which was a growth of 0.1 per cent or RM130.7 million from the previous month.

"However, on a year-on-year basis, it registered a decline of RM10.7 billion or 7.7 per cent. A trade surplus of RM9.8bil was registered in October 2016 as compared to the RM7.6bil recorded in the previous month. However, the trade surplus declined RM2.3 billion or 19.4 per cent when compared with the previous year," said the department in a statement yesterday.

The level of the foreign exchange reserves was anticipated by the market which expected reserves to fall by several billion dollars to defend the ringgit's decline against the US dollar,

Market watchers were waiting for yesterday's data which would have reflected the activity in defending the ringgit after the declines against the US dollar which was more pronounced after the US election results were known around the middle of November.

One indicator that will lend support to the ringgit is the fiscal deficit. There has been speculation that Malaysia will miss its fiscal deficit target of 3.1 per cent for 2016 but those concerns were laid to rest by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

Rahman, who is in charge of the Economic Planning Unit, said "the fiscal deficit of the federal government looks set to meet its rationalisation target of 3.1 per cent to GDP this year."

"While the surplus in the current account of the balance of payments has narrowed to RM12.9 billion or 1.5 per cent to the gross national income for January to September, it was due to higher imports of capital and intermediate goods, which bodes well for future production," he said.

KUALA LUMPUR: 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is not in talks with China to make repayments to International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic), said its chairman Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah.

"I am the chairman of 1MDB, and as I know, there is no such thing as us talking to China about this.

"Nobody talked to us," he told a press conference here Thursday.

Dr Mohd Irwan was referring to a Financial Times report Wednesday that claimed 1MDB was getting China to help with repayments to Ipic, a company owned by the Abu Dhabi government.

The spectre of higher interest rates, weak growth and concerns over the job market could lead to more properties going up for auction next year, say analysts.

Consultancy JLL noted that there have been 214 mortgagee listings so far this year - including 156 residential properties.

"We foresee a 10 to 20 per cent increase in mortgagee sales for 2017 compared to this year," said Ms Mok Sze Sze, head of auction and sales for Singapore at JLL.

She expects overall mortgagee listings this year to reach or surpass the 237 recorded in all of 2015, which exceeded the 236 racked up in 2008 during the global financial crisis.

Knight Frank Singapore told The Straits Times that most mortgagee listings this year have been properties in the core central region and the city fringe, with some in the suburbs.

A mortgagee's sale occurs when an owner defaults on the mortgage and the bank puts the property up for auction.

Mr Lee Nai Jia, head of South-east Asia research at Edmund Tie & Company, said: "I expect the hike in interest rates to be moderate, and its impact will likely be measured. However, the slowing economy and higher job cuts will contribute to an increase in mortgagee sales."

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) cautioned households last week to stay financially prudent, and be aware that rising vacancy rates, falling rents and impending interest rate hikes may affect their ability to service investment property loans. MAS added that households here on the whole have ample financial buffer to weather the current soft economic and labour market conditions.

Private residential rents weakened by 3 per cent in the first nine months of the year, and ERA Realty Network foresees a further 3 per cent to 4 per cent drop next year owing to the increased supply of new homes and weaker leasing demand.

Property agents said landlords have been dropping rents and throwing in sweeteners such as new furniture and fittings to attract or retain tenants.

"Many landlords who have bought their properties three to four years ago are settling for rents that don't cover their mortgage payment because they went in at a high price and the market has weakened since," PropNex Realty senior associate director Anthea Yeo told The Straits Times.

Consultancy Colliers International expects rental demand to continue to lag behind supply in view of the 22,937 new units slated to be completed this year.

Its head of research, Ms Tricia Song, said: "Most of the supply will come from OCR (outside central region). Rents in the OCR have already reflected this situation somewhat, showing the highest decline among the three market segments."

Analysts said some properties were sold at significant losses this year, including a unit at Sentosa Cove condo Turquoise that went for $3.8 million. The seller had bought it at $7.16 million in 2007.

Another apartment on the eighth floor at Seascape - also in Sentosa Cove - was resold at $6.35 million in October, down from its $11 million purchase price in 2011.

Ms Sharon Lee, head of auction at Knight Frank, said there could be more fire sales if interest rates appreciate at a much faster pace.

This article was first published on December 8, 2016.
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HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - December 8, 2016 - Marriott International (NASDAQ: MAR) has been named a 2016 Aon Best Employer in Asia Pacific by Aon Hewitt, the global talent, retirement and health solutions business of Aon plc (NYSE: AON). The Aon Best Employers program measures and recognizes employer excellence worldwide.

With more than 15 years of experience in best employer studies across the world, and backed by more than 20 years of experience in employee research, the Aon Best Employer program compares organizations to identify those that strive to create a competitive advantage through their people and become employers of choice.

All of Marriott's eleven eligible countries in Asia Pacific -- Australia, China (including Hong Kong), India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam - won country awards, and the leading hospitality company was also saluted with the 2016 Global Aon Best Employer award. It is the only company to receive Global recognition consecutively for the past three years. To achieve this level of recognition, a company must achieve regional certification in at least two regions. Marriott qualified by achieving certification in five regions.

Marriott gives great prominence to associate satisfaction, especially at this crucial juncture in Marriott's evolvement as a company. Marriott acquired Starwood Hotel & Resorts on September 23, resulting in the world's biggest hotel group. In Asia Pacific the hotel group now has 163,000 rooms with another 120,000 in the pipeline. The company's associates in Asia Pacific now number more than 124,000 and its commitment to offering its people the best possible workplace is as strong as ever.

"Our associates are the public face of Marriott and this award means so much as it comes directly from their opinions. Since our founding in 1927, Marriott has built its business on taking care of its people, who in turn would take care of the guests. As our company expands and a new wave of colleagues are now under the Marriott umbrella, we will continue to place our associates at the very heart of our business," said Craig S. Smith, President and Managing Director for Asia Pacific.

Asia is Marriott's fastest growing market and there are plans to add another 390 hotels across 21 brands across the region by the end of 2020. To support the company's plans for growth and attract the next generation of associates, Marriott has long put great emphasis on its unique company culture with its traditions of teamwork, excellence and community involvement.

Marriott's commitment to its associates is illustrated by TakeCare, Marriott's unique program that focuses on associate wellbeing and happiness. The TakeCare program provides a global focus on helping associates live their best life -- with a focus on the body, mind and spirit, while building a healthy and secure future.

"At Marriott, innovative associate programs such as TakeCare keep our employees engaged and happy to come to work. We are committed to programs like this because as well as being the right thing to do, they also make good business sense. In order to attract, engage and retain the best talent in the region, we will continue to put people first," said Regan Taikitsadaporn, Chief Human Resources Officer at Marriott International.

The Aon Best Employers program compares organizations to identify those that strive to create a competitive advantage through their people and become employers of choice. To achieve global recognition through the Aon Best Employers program, Marriott was assessed on four measures:

The Aon Hewitt award ceremonies in Asia Pacific will take place in summer 2017.

Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) is the world's largest hotel company based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, with nearly 6,000 properties in 120 countries and territories. Marriott operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts. The company's 30 leading brands include: Bulgari®, The Ritz-Carlton® and The Ritz-Carlton Reserve®, St. Regis®, W®, EDITION®, JW Marriott®, The Luxury Collection®, Marriott Hotels®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Renaissance® Hotels, Sheraton®, Delta Hotels by MarriottSM , Marriott Executive Apartments®, Marriott Vacation Club®, Autograph Collection® Hotels, Tribute Portfolio™, Design Hotels™, Gaylord Hotels®, Courtyard®, Four Points® by Sheraton, SpringHill Suites®, Fairfield Inn & Suites®, Residence Inn®, TownePlace Suites®, AC Hotels by Marriott®, Aloft®, Element®, Moxy® Hotels, and Protea Hotels by Marriott®. The company also operates award-winning loyalty programs: Marriott Rewards®, which includes The Ritz-Carlton Rewards®, and Starwood Preferred Guest®. For more information, please visit our website at www.marriott.com , and for the latest company news, visit www.marriottnewscenter.com and @MarriottIntl.

Ask any Singaporean about the economy, and he's likely to turn to you with a black face. Everybody knows the economy is in trouble, but what does that actually mean?

The trouble is, a lot of what's been said about the economy moving forward is guesswork - albeit informed guesswork performed by experts. Here's what you need to know:

Experts are divided over whether there will technically be a recession, but GDP growth is definitely slowing

One day you read about how we're headed towards a recession, and the next you have another commentator reassuring us that that's unlikely to happen.

But does that really matter? The word "recession" is just a technicality used to describe a period of decline. There are certain criteria that must be satisfied before an economy can be said to be in recession.

In the July to September 2016 quarter, the economy contracted by 2 per cent when compared to the previous quarter. If there is once again a contraction in the October to December quarter, the economy will officially be in a recession.

Whether that actually happens or not doesn't take away from the fact that, over the longer term, GDP growth is definitely slowing. Analysts have predicted GDP growth to be between 1 per cent and 3 per cent in 2017, but judging by the way things are going we should probably expect something on the lower end of the scale.

So recession or not, businesses are going to find it more challenging to survive, and employees are going to find themselves facing a tougher job market.

People are tightening their belts, and you'd be right to follow suit

You might not be able to tell based on the number of Chanel handbags that continue to swarm Raffles Place, but Singaporeans have been tightening their belts, with only 0.6 per cent growth in their private consumption in the July to September quarter. Experts think this is because of slower wage growth and a more difficult labour market for employees.

Well, there's a good chance you should be curbing your own spending, too, as the slowdown is expected to hit most sectors.

One of the biggest implications for employees is slower wage growth. The median income grew by a modest 3.2 per cent in 2016 after adjusting for inflation, and analysts are pessimistic about 2017. So don't go spending all of your year-end bonus just yet.

In addition, the labour market is likely to be soft, which means there will be fewer job openings, so don't be so quick to quit your job without another one lined up, and try not to get caught surfing Facebook by your boss too often.

While the unemployment rate is still low at around 3 per cent despite the spate of retrenchments this year, that's got a lot to do with the fact that there are no unemployment benefits in Singapore, so people will do whatever it takes to get back into the market, even if it means driving taxis.

A bleak 2017?

So, what lies ahead for Singaporeans in 2017?

One thing we can definitely expect is weakening global trade, which is bad news as our economy is very reliant on it. After all, one of the key reasons Singapore became wealthy was because of its dedication to free trade. Exports just took a big dip in October, so….

It's been mere weeks since Trump was elected, and we're already feeling some of the effects-especially the impending demise of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The TPP would have had a positive impact on the Singapore economy. Then there's Brexit. There probably won't be an immediate fallout, but in the longer term it might negatively affect our economy.

Basically, while different analysts are displaying differing levels of pessimism, everyone is in agreement that we're not looking at a good 2017, or even next few years.

Of course, how badly you'll be affected as an individual really depends on your circumstances. If you have the foresight to be working in a growth industry and are using the slowdown to seize investment opportunities, you could well come out on top. Apart from that, there are still many things you can do to make sure you maximise your money, so follow us on Facebook for more tips as we weather the storm together.

MoneySmart.sg is Singapore’s leading personal finance portal, and aims to help people maximise their money with powerful tools and engaging content.

While black swans are inherently unpredictable, Nomura has pointed to 10 potential grey swans to worry about for 2017.

The black swan concept was popularised by finance professor Nassim Nicholas Taleb's book "The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable.

"The book, noting that it was widely assumed all swans were white until the discovery of black swans, highlighted that outlier, or previously unthought-of, scenarios can some to pass with extreme economic impacts.

But Nomura pointed to what it called the black swan's cousin, the grey swan.

"These are the unlikely but impactful events that, in our opinion, lie outside the usual base case and risk scenarios of the analyst community," it said in a note Wednesday, noting it was avoiding the more usual, well-discussed outliers such as a euro-area breakup, a Donald Trump impeachment or a China implosion.

Potential shock 1: US productivity might boom

Nomura noted that global productivity has been anaemic since the 2008 global financial crisis and its base case is for US productivity to remain on the low side for years ahead.

But it noted that in the early 1990s, productivity was expected to remain low, but it quickly doubled during that decade's tech boom.

"We know that low investment has been a key contributor to poor productivity.

It certainly has been true that investment in buildings and equipment is at recessionary levels," Nomura said.

"But investment in intellectual property and R&D is running at close to post-crisis highs.

The fact that this form of investment is less tangible makes it easy to miss.

It could also provide the foundation for a surge in productivity."

The market implications would be "far-reaching," with likely stronger stock markets and more aggressive tightening from the US Federal Reserve, Nomura said.

Potential shock 2: China might float its currency

Nomura said the chances of China letting its currency become completely market-determined anytime soon were "very low."

But it added, if China were to suddenly remove its 2 per cent onshore trading band and stop intervening in the currency market, the yuan would depreciate sharply rapidly.

"The risk is that rapid renminbi (yuan) depreciation would lead to a sell-off in local markets and feed through to greater negative regional and global market contagion," Nomura said.

Potential shock 3: The European Union (EU) could reform, leading the UK to re-join

"To suggest Brexit could reverse and become Bremain requires a series of improbable events that most would vehemently disagree with, including us," Nomura said, but it added: "With politics, one cannot rule anything out."

Nomura pointed to two potential, if unlikely, scenarios.

In one, the UK could unwind the Brexit decision through a general election, amid court cases over whether the UK needs Scottish and Welsh parliaments' consent to exit the European Union.

If Brexit runs into roadblocks, the conservatives may call an election in hopes of solidifying a mandate, Nomura said, noting that this could lead to opposition parties winning or a smaller conservative majority.

The second Brexit-reversal scenario would be EU-led, with the bloc offering the reforms that the UK has been seeking, such as redefining free movement of labour, Nomura said.

Potential shock 4: Japan inflation might surge

Nomura said the most plausible channel for a Japan inflation jump would be interplay between the dollar/yen pair and oil prices.

Up until recently, the yen would weaken as oil prices were falling, Nomura noted.

But if that correlation were to weaken or flip so that higher oil prices and a weaker yen coincided, Japan's inflation could pick up sharply, it said.

If Japan's inflation were to rise far enough or were to keep rising in an unstable fashion, the central bank would need to consider exit strategies from its easing programs, Nomura said.

Potential shock 5: The US Federal Reserve could be muzzled

Nomura noted that some have viewed President-elect Donald Trump's loud disapproval of the Fed as a potential attack on the central bank's independence and potentially opening it up to political meddling.

There was an outside possibility of radical changes, potentially including altering the Fed's mandate, such as changing the inflation-targeting basis, Nomura said.

More radically, Nomura noted that Trump has "expressed sympathy" for returning to a gold standard.

That would lead to higher policy rates than expected, Nomura said.

Potential shock 6: Russia may flex its muscles

Nomura noted that investors have increasingly asked about whether Russia might become militarily aggressive in Eastern Europe.

While Nomura said it wasn't its baseline expectation, the risk could emerge amid the potential for changes in US foreign policy, potential sanctions renewal and upcoming major European elections.

Nomura said the two most plausible scenarios for potential Russian aggression would be greater involvement in Ukraine, toward the border with Poland, and involvement in the Baltics, particularly Lithuania.

Potential shock 7: A clearing house may fail

"There's been an assumption since 2008 that clearing financial contracts through a central counterparty (CCP) rather than bilaterally between banks (OTC) will reduce systemic risk," Nomura noted.

"The idea is that, if all banks face one institution, the CCP, then the failure of one bank could be contained as other banks would face the CCP not the failing bank."

But it noted that the downside to that arrangement was that the CCP itself can become a systemic risk.

"Were it to fail, the fall-out could be worse than the failure of one or two large banks alone," Nomura noted.

Potential shock 8: Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe loses power

Abe's ruling coalition holds a super-majority in the lower house and opposition parties remain unpopular, Nomura noted, saying it boded well for political stability heading into general elections in 2017.

But Nomura noted a potential twist as the four main opposition parties considered nominating joint candidates for each electoral district, which reportedly could cost the ruling party as many as 60 seats, based on 2014 vote totals.

The most extreme outcome would be for Abe be weakened substantially and potentially resign immediately, Nomura said.

"Were this 'grey swan' to emerge, Abenomics trades would be unwound.

Japanese equities would likely bear the brunt," it said.

"In addition, if Japan had an administration involving anti-establishment parties (such as the communist party), investors would likely become concerned about the anti-establishment movement reaching Japan.

This would further increase political uncertainty and volatility globally."

Potential shock 9: Emerging market capital controls may return

If "Trumpflation" causes higher US yields and a stronger dollar, emerging markets could face even more pronounced outflows, Nomura noted.

"Countries with very high levels of foreign portfolio investment ownership, particularly volatile currencies, low rates and low foreign-exchange reserves would be at most risk from capital controls," Nomura said.

"They would also be the ones that markets would look to for more disorderly devaluations either before capital controls were tried or after if they failed."

Potential shock 10: Paper money may disappear

"We are on the threshold when secure decentralised electronic money and payments systems could replace notes and coins in circulation," Nomura said, noting that Sweden has already been discussing the prospect.

Nomura said policy makers in developed markets with negative monetary policy rates, such as Europe and Japan, may push in that direction.

In those regions, "people can simply withdraw their money and put it under their mattress to avoid incurring negative rates," it said.

But with "e-holdings," negative-rate policies can be transmitted to "e-wallets," encouraging increased consumption, Nomura said.

That could elicit a sharp negative reaction from the public, Nomura noted.

SINGAPORE - Singapore employees are more confident about receiving a year-end bonus this year than they are about seeing their salaries go up, the latest global Workmonitor report by recruitment firm Randstad has revealed.

Despite the slowing economy and a number of industries undergoing restructuring, nearly seven out of 10 (68%) Singapore employees are still expecting to receive a year-end bonus.

However, only 58 per cent expect to see their salaries go up this year, according to the report, which is based on the results of an online questionnaire of employees aged 18 to 65 who worked at least 24 hours a week in a paid job.

Nevertheless, the confidence levels of Singapore employees regarding their remuneration remains relatively high. Globally, just 49 per cent expect to get a year-end bonus, whereas only 53 per cent expect a salary raise.

The report also reveals that there is a significant gap in salary expectations between millennial employees (those aged from 18 to 34) and older workers (aged 35 to 54).

A total of 72 per cent of millennials expect to receive a bonus while 71 per cent anticipate a pay raise.

By contrast, just 65 per cent of older workers think that they will get a bonus, while only 51 per cent are confident of getting a raise.

Meanwhile, Singapore women (73 per cent) are also more confident about their bonuses than their male counterparts (63 per cent), according to Randstand.

There are also differences between the confidence levels of Singapore employees and their counterparts in Hong Kong and Malaysia.

Working Hong Kongers seem to place a stronger focus on salaries, with 67 per cent expecting to get a pay rise compared to 60 per cent who expect a bonus.

But perhaps most surprisingly, given the gloom over the depreciation of the ringgit, salary expectations of professionals in Malaysia surpassed both Singapore and Hong Kong workers. According to Randstad, 77 per cent of employees in Malaysia surveyed expected a year-end bonus, while 74 per cent stated they were expecting a raise.

Mr Michael Smith, managing director for Randstad Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia noted that employees in the three economies have remained very confident about their remuneration despite the weaker economic climate.

However, he said that it remains to be seen how generous organisations are with regards to rewarding their employees this year.

Earlier surveys have indicated that salaries in Singapore are expected to go up by about 2.9 per cent next year. Firms may also be inclined to promote their employees without giving a corresponding pay increase.

"It is crucial for these companies to consider the importance of keeping their employees happy. Research has shown the cost of replacing an employee can surpass the cost of a raise and bonus by many multiples," Mr Smith said.

seanyap@sph.com.sg

Singapore - The Singapore economy could expand 2.3 per cent year on year in 2017, with a further rise to 3 per cent in 2018, said Deutsche Bank in a report this week. Still, it cautioned that "such a growth increment (is) hardly any reason to cheer about" given the country's steady deceleration over the last few years.

Indeed, while the German bank's 2017 growth projection stands within the government's 1-3 per cent forecast range - and is in fact above 2016's official estimate of 1-1.5 per cent growth - it is far below the 5.3 per cent average growth in the preceding decade (2000-2009).

Said the bank: "A 1-3 per cent expansion rate for another three years only implies that Singapore is stuck in a low-growth environment, where domestic sentiment, productivity, and inflationary pressures are weak.

"Add Singapore's ageing population and the household debt overhang to a lacklustre and tricky external environment, all of which form a recipe for weaker growth potential, Singapore will have to be content with little victories, such as our modestly positive 2017-2018 growth outlook, in the years to come."

Nevertheless, Deutsche Bank sees Singapore on a path of "mild recovery" through the medium-term, as it foresees exports growth creeping marginally higher - despite the drag from China.

"Our baseline scenario, where advanced economies are expected to marginally grow faster through 2018 despite a slowing China, is set to guide Singapore's merchandise exports a tad stronger, rising towards 2 per cent in real terms in 2018 from one per cent in 2016 year to date."

At the sector level, it expects electronics and precision engineering to be most vulnerable to a pullback in foreign investments. This is especially given the threat of "de-globalisation" from a Donald Trump presidency. However, the real estate and offshore & marine sectors are expected to bottom out in 2017.

At the same time, the report said Singapore Inc is due for restructuring, amid heightened competition from its regional peers.

"Singapore Inc, especially Temasek-linked companies, was once a success story in the region with a number of them being leaders in their respective sectors. Most recently, however, Singapore Inc has lagged behind due to technology disruptions and intensified competition from regional players," the bank said.

Singapore's technology and productivity drive - together with the change in return assessment for Temasek - could see the next phase of rebuilding Singapore Inc, it said.

As for its top company picks, Deutsche Bank said its focus is on companies that are better positioned in a technology-savvy environment, or ones that could see better capital management and restructuring potential.

It singled out CapitaLand, DBS, SATS, SingTel, and SingPost.

This article was first published on December 9, 2016.
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HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - December 9, 2016 - CFOs in China generally remain pessimistic over the economic prospect with concerns fueled by a potential turmoil due to continued economic slowdown and a rising financial leverage. Only 8 percent of CFOs expressed optimism towards the economy, while 54 percent believed there was no change in economic sentiment during the past few months. Compared with Q1 2016, however, CFO sentiment has somewhat turned positive, where 38 percent of CFOs were "less optimistic" when asked about their views about the economy, versus 50 percent previously, according to the latest CFO Survey by Deloitte China .

The CFO survey was conducted in September to October 2016 with the objective of gauging opinions from China CFOs on a wide range of topics, including the strength of the global economy, and the effect of recent political change. The survey included 116 CFOs from a diverse spectrum of industries, spanning manufacturing, consumer business, financial services, technology, media and telecommunications, energy and resources, life sciences and health care and the public sector.

"The global economy has continued to weaken and recent events such as Brexit, global terrorist attacks and the US presidential election have created increased levels of global economic uncertainty for businesses worldwide. With the global economic outlook at 2.6% in 2017, it shows that growth in the most advanced economies will remain low, with slow potential growth and gradual closing of output gaps," said William Chou, National Managing Partner, CFO Program, Deloitte China.

The report said prospects remain diverse across the emerging markets and developing economies with a few improvements for a couple of emerging economies, namely Brazil and Russia. Aside from economic uncertainty, businesses are also faced with other challenges such as tightened government policy and regulation, increasing competition, inflation, market growth and structures, talent development and pricing trends.

More worrying for Chinese businesses is the depreciation of Renminbi since August 2015, which is expected to continue in the medium term. Renminbi depreciation is also said to have a significant impact on multinational corporations with assets denominated in Renminbi, and business relying on imports and indebted in US dollars will face increasing operational costs. On the other hand, while Brexit has given rise to global economic uncertainty, 82% of participating CFO's commented that Chinese enterprises were not exposed to risks from Brexit and some even reported that they may benefit from Brexit by purchasing assets in the UK.

Commenting on major concerns for businesses, Chou said "SOEs have been unnerved by credit risk as they embark on their global expansion journey. CFOs are having to optimize their financial systems and develop integrated treasury systems in line with business requirements. The survey makes it clear that SOEs need to make strategic decisions in response to the prevalence of information technology in other industries. And multinational corporations are primarily concerned about domestic consumption slowing down."

When it comes to multinational companies, Jens Ewert, MNC Sector Leader, CFO Program from Deloitte China, said "the survey showed that they are most unsettled about the slowdown in domestic consumption in China, followed by challenges from local competition and exchange rate volatility. In that respect, it becomes more important than ever for CFOs to come up with more accurate sales and revenue forecast, along with partnering with business operations to identify the necessary changes and adjustments to business model in response to the rapidly changing market in China."

"All in all, the finance department is one of the core functions within any organization and the importance of finance management will become even more visible when we are faced with economic uncertainty. In that regard, the finance department needs to improve their business persuasion techniques, and coincidentally, influencing business strategy was cited by most finance departments as one of the critical challenges for them," Chou concluded.

Deloitte's CFO program brings together a multidisciplinary team of Deloitte leaders and subject matter specialists to help CFOs stay ahead of global challenges and demands. The program aims to cover a wide range of initiatives to help CFOs manage the complexities of their roles, tackle challenges and adapt to changes in the market.

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With a fortune of more than US$8 billion (S$11.34 billion), Lui Che Woo is one of the wealthiest men in Hong Kong. But he reckons he could be just as happy without money.

"Happiness requires only a simple mentality: one shouldn't aim too high. If you believe you are successful, your heart will be at rest," says the Chinese-born octogenarian at his office in North Point, Hong Kong.

His manner calm and assured, he emanates a feeling of being at ease in his own skin. "I always kept a few words in mind, 'be sincere with whatever you do, the things you manage to achieve will give you peace'. It doesn't matter if I earn lots, or I don't earn much, I'm satisfied," he says.

Now at age 87 and the head of a hotel, property and casino empire, Lui is considered one of Asia's most successful businessmen. He had an eagle eye for opportunity. During Hong Kong's 1950s construction boom he founded K Wah Group, back then a mining company. As the city prospered in the 1960s and 1970s, he turned his company into a real-estate developer. And in the noughties when China relaxed the gambling market in Macau, he launched Galaxy Entertainment, now one of the biggest casinos in Asia.

But for all his wealth he has not forgotten the deprivation he encountered as a child during the Second World War. He attributes his attitude and passion for education to these formative years.

When he was four, Lui moved from his hometown of Jiangmen to Hong Kong. At the time Hong Kong was occupied by Japan and Lui was denied a formal education. "The Japanese discriminated against the Chinese. They'd think, 'of course China is backward, they are illiterate, they can barely read their own language'."

But when you're young, "you grow in the face of hardship", he recalls. Lui was the eldest of six children and the only boy; he became the primary breadwinner for his family when he was just 13. "I wasn't from any prestigious family business; my father was what you'd call laid back. He collected rent every month, and invested in some small businesses, which wasn't sustainable in the long run."

Lui's first step towards becoming the man he is today was selling peanuts during the Japanese occupation, when food was scarce and rationed in warehouses. "The business went pretty well, so I began thinking: how can I boost my sales? What should I do so I can feed and support myself? I continued my snack business until Hong Kong's handover back to Britain. I was very lucky to have been in the food industry. I didn't starve and I did make quite a bit of money."

A series of good connections led Lui into the car-parts industry and, as fortune had it, he became a company owner aged 20. "My company encountered financial difficulties and returned to China. As the Communist Party was in power a lot of things were confiscated, and their wealth remained in the Mainland. So I proposed to buy the business. I was barely 20 and didn't have much money, so I paid for the company in five annual instalments."

During the war with Vietnam, Lui worked with the US Army, importing car parts from Saigon back to Hong Kong. After the war, Lui turned to a quarry business in Okinawa, Japan, and became the owner of one of the city's largest mines.

These days, Lui is less involved in his businesses, which he has handed over to his five children. "All five of them are very cooperative and filial in helping me maintain my business. I feel very blessed to have my five children who are dutiful and obedient, and who appreciate that their father's teachings will shed light on how to live life."

For the last 20 years he has been giving back to his home country, having donated assets of approximately HK$6.6 billion (S$1.21 billion) to promote education, provide medical care and poverty relief in China. It was his lack of schooling that inspired his cause.

"I began to wonder, how could the Chinese raise their education standards? They need to learn how to stand up for their own country. So my passion to help others started then." His contributions to society have not gone unnoticed. He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by the Queen in 1982 , and made a Justice of the Peace in 1986. He has even had an asteroid named after him: the Lui Che Woo Star.

Last September Lui established the Lui Prize for World Civilisation. There will be three prizes awarded annually, with a total of HK$60 million (around S$10.96 million) split between three winners, to be announced in the third quarter of this year. The first prize is for sustainability, recognising individuals who have made outstanding achievements in promoting the sustainable use of natural resources for the development of the world. The specific focus for 2016 will be the safety and security of the world food supply.

The second prize recognises individuals who have made outstanding efforts in enhancing the wellbeing and welfare of the human race. The focus of 2016 will be the treatment and/or control of epidemics, infectious diseases or chronic illnesses.

The third category is the positive energy prize, recognising individuals who have promoted positive energy in the face of adversity. This includes behaviour that inspires, energises and gives hope to others. Along with Lui, the prize council that will choose the awardees includes former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, former World Bank president James Wolfensohn and British Anglican bishop and poet Rowan Williams.

"I speculated on how we can emphasise more new terms such as 'positive energy', and ways how people can learn to adjust their attitude or make others feel comfortable," he explains. His prize won't change the world, Lui acknowledges. But it might go some way towards helping.

"Someone once told me that this dream is too idealistic, it's not a simple task. But I believe in it because it is not a simple task. I hope to plant this seed, and see if it can bloom in one year, two years, or three years. Let this notion slowly sink in. This world is a wonderful place. Well, I think it is at least."

Championing leadership, passion and innovation, Billionaire Singapore is a community and the indispensable lifestyle resource for business leaders, investors, entrepreneurs and creatives.

Home: Four-room HDB executive maisonette in Pasir Ris
Size: 1,480 sqf
Who: A couple and their three children

When Mohammad Zain and his wife Sharon Park got their duplex, they were sure about the materials they wanted to use for their home - primarily wood - as Zain, who is the general manager of wood flooring company Wow Floors, has a fondness for the material.

A long-time client and friend of Akihaus design director Lawrence Puah, Zain sought Lawrence's help in designing the flat, while also remaining heavily involved in the construction process.

Designed around the heart of the home - the kitchen - the open-concept first level has several spaces where the family and guests can gather, such as the bar counter, living room, and family room. The openness of the space also helps bring light to the staircase area and throughout the abode.

With the $300,000 renovation (including furnishings), the interiors showcase lots of rich wood textures, such as the distressed handcrafted walnut flooring throughout the lower floor.

The uneven texture creates a unique sensorial experience underfoot, unlike stepping on smooth regular tiles. "The home is a place for rest, and I wanted it to 'wow' in an understated manner," says Lawrence.

A nature lover, Zain enjoys the outdoors, but having Pasir Ris Park a stone's throw away wasn't enough. He installed a green wall from Prince's Landscape in the balcony, which is so luxuriant that "many cars have stopped by along the road to look at it. There was even a passer-by who requested to come in for a look - he stayed for half an hour just admiring it," shares the couple.

Another impressive nature-inspired space in the home is the cosy family room, next to the dining area. Illuminated by sunlight, the space almost seems to glow, as all its walls - as well as floor and ceiling - are decked out in golden bamboo strips.

The only space in the home that doesn't sport that much wood is the master bathroom upstairs, which exudes a luxurious appeal with surfaces clad in marble-like tiles from Rice Fields.

With an appreciation and respect for natural materials, the homeowners and designer have created a stylish home that will last for ages.

Where to go: Akihaus, Tel: 6221-2808

AsiaOne is looking to feature our readers' renovations and beautiful homes. If you have a HDB or condo flat that you would like to be featured, send along photographs of the home, along with your name and contact number, to a1photo@sph.com.sg, with the email subject: "Home Works", and we will be in touch.

Tenants at Parkland Green in East Coast Park, which opened to fanfare two years ago, are struggling despite several events held there in a bid to drum up excitement for the lifestyle spot.

Six of the 11 businesses in the area next to Carpark C1 - restaurants, cafes and shops - have seen earnings drop by up to 30 per cent since January last year, the peak of business. The rest say trade has been lukewarm since they moved in when the place opened, with a handful of customers on weekdays and more on weekends.

They think this is due to several reasons: The imposition of carpark charges there about a year ago and competition from the reopened Marine Cove - a popular area with the iconic McDonald's outlet a four-minute drive away - in June this year.

In the months after Parkland Green opened in September 2014, parking was free and eateries there were packed on weekends and even on weekday evenings.

Tenants say the situation started going downhill around the end of last year and the start of this year.

To turn things around, the businesses have approached the National Parks Board (NParks) - which manages Parkland Green - several times to ask that activities be organised at the area's 1ha open lawn.

Apart from events such as a movie screening, free weekly workout classes have also been held on weekends for adults and children since August this year.

The latest initiative was held yesterday. Called A Splash Of Colour - a free event with activities such as bubble soccer (a game in which players kick around a soccer ball with their upper bodies cocooned within giant plastic bubbles), skating and roller-blading lessons, in-store promotions and performances by buskers - it was timed to coincide with the school holidays.

Some of the events are a success, say tenants, but others do poorly.

Tenants say they were told to expect at least 1,000 visitors to a movie screening event held in August, but only 100 people showed up.

At Atmosphere Bistro & Bar, business has fallen by 30 per cent since January. Its managing director Chiam Wee Leong, 32, says he expected the dip following the reopening of Marine Cove, but added that there were bigger factors at play, such as the dismal retail climate.

"If I were a parent, I'd definitely take my kids to Marine Cove because it has a big playground. The economy is doing poorly, so people are spending less where they can. Malls and many other retailers have also been hit," he says.

He started pizza-making classes for children earlier this year, in a bid to keep families coming to his establishment. The response has been good, so he plans to roll out classes to teach participants to make pineapple tarts and muffins.

The other affected tenants did not want to be named, but Mr Desmond Jose, manager of the 148-seat Patro's Sports Bar & Restaurant, says Marine Cove has "definitely taken some of our weekday lunchtime clientele".

When contacted, NParks did not elaborate on plans it had for the area, but senior director Tan Lai Kheng says: "We hope park users will enjoy these educational and fun activities and events made possible through collaborations with our partners."

For yesterday's event, the government agency bore the costs of promotional materials and chalk for the mass chalk-art activities.

The owner of skating and beach equipment retail store Hvper Sport, Mr Eddie Chua, 50, who organised the free bubble soccer, skating and roller-blading lessons for A Splash Of Colour, says he is happy NParks initiated this one-day event.

"Instead of waiting for the economy to turn, I think it will benefit all of us here if we try to band together and do something sustainable regularly," he adds.

"We have beautiful stretches of grass here. It's up to us tenants to think of how to co-host activities and use the space."

Meanwhile, taxi driver Lim Kee Long, 56, says he heads to Parkland Green every weekend with his wife and two children.

"I don't go there for the events or activities. I just go there to exercise, eat and relax with my family. It's a nice spot and I like that it's less crowded than some of the other parts of the park," he says.

Business as usual at East Coast Seafood Centre

Despite waves of change and intense competition with other areas of East Coast Park, tenants at another stretch of the park are holding their own.

A sign that reads "Business As Usual" calls out to motorists driving past the carpark entrance of the East Coast Seafood Centre and the five tenants there say things have stabilised. One of them, Enak Enak Hong Kong Tea House, has managed to improve business by about 35 per cent since June.

The centre has made the news several times since it opened in 1985. It had eight tenants then and boasted big-name restaurants such as Long Beach, Jumbo and Red House. Up till the 1990s, it was typical for diners to queue for about an hour to get a seat at the seafood restaurants there.

In 2005, it underwent a $2-million revamp by the National Parks Board (NParks). It reopened six months later with a new coat of paint, wider pavements and better drainage.

Last year, after 30 years at the centre, Red House Seafood closed to make way for a landscaped lawn. Restaurants No Signboard Seafood and Fisherman's Village also exited last year after their leases expired.

A spokesman for Red House said last year that the centre was probably on its last legs as crowds had "thinned drastically since 2004" and people could easily get seafood elsewhere, including at neighbourhood eateries.

The situation, however, seems to have improved since then.

Mr Jamal Abu Bakar, manager of Enak Enak Hong Kong Tea House, a halal seafood restaurant that opened there last April, says business was poor for the first six months. "It was very rough," the 50-yearold says, adding that business was a far cry from its other outlet at Simpang Bedok, which is usually packed.

The management decided to advertise in the media this year and started renting out its second-floor space to community centres, schools and corporate groups. Since June this year, things have improved and Mr Jamal says it is now usually fully booked on weekends.

Other restaurants on the stretch are long-time tenants Jumbo Seafood Restaurant and Long Beach Seafood Restaurant, and newer players Rong Heng Seafood and Ubin First Stop Restaurant.

A Jumbo Seafood spokesman says the outlet at the centre has seen "relatively stable business" over the past few years. "The arrival of new tenants has not had a significant impact," he says.

To stay competitive, the restaurant regularly engages with its 54,000 loyalty members and has promotional tie-ups with credit cards and other payment gateways.

Ubin First Stop Restaurant is the newest kid on the block - it moved there in July this year.

Its business development manager, Mr Joshua Sim, 30, says business has been "okay" on weekdays and gets "better" on weekends. "We are against big brands, so competition is stiff. But we have loyal customers," he says.

The restaurant moved to East Coast when its lease at Changi Village expired. "The crowd there was much better than at the Seafood Centre," adds Mr Sim.

He intends to stick it out at the Seafood Centre. The restaurant has been trying to woo customers with its signature dishes, such as sambal chilli crab, "leather jacket" fish and "manis chye", a type of kampung vegetable that the restaurant imports from Malaysia.

"We just moved here, so I expect that the first few years will be tough," he says.

This article was first published on Dec 11, 2016.
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So, apparently Singaporeans are some of the world's wealthiest people. If this recent report is to be believed, the average household wealth in Singapore is US$277,000 (S$394,000).

Now, you might be fretting over how you're the only one struggling in a country of supposed rich folk. There there, dry your eyes-you're not alone. In fact, there's a whole bunch of Singaporeans feeling broke together with you.

Here's why we look rich on paper but are actually not.

Property and CPF make up a large proportion of the average Singaporean's wealth

Part of the reason personal wealth seems so high is because property is so darned expensive. If you've bled every single cent from your life savings, CPF account and salary over the duration of your 30-year mortgage to pay for a $500,000 resale flat, at the end of that mortgage your household wealth is officially at least $500,000 (assuming you have no other loans pending repayment)-even if you have $0 savings and are eating cardboard.

While the CPF system does stop those Singaporeans without self-control from spending all their money on alcohol and designer handbags, it also means that this "wealth" is technically locked away for most of a person's life, unless he or she uses it to buy property.

Furthermore, the study measured "household" wealth per adult. Most Singaporeans live in housing that is owned by somebody in the household, and the value of that property is divided amongst all the adults living in it.

So if you're living with your parents at the age of 40 in a home they bought 50 years ago, you would on paper have a higher household wealth than someone with the same net worth who was renting a home somewhere else.

Wealth inequality raises the average wealth

Don't feel bad for being "below average" if you haven't achieved the average household wealth of $394,000. That doesn't necessarily mean that more than half of the people in Singapore are wealthier than you.

The median wealth in Singapore is actually a much lower, at just 140,000 SGD. That means that roughly half of Singaporeans have more than that, and roughly half have less. This is about half of the average household wealth of 394,000 SGD. This also means that there are some very rich people pulling up the average.

Officially, wealth distribution in Singapore is "moderately unequal", and subsequent reports have been quick to point out that we aren't the worst in the world when it comes to income inequality-countries like the US and Switzerland (the latter being yet another famous destination for billionaires hoping to hide their wealth) are worse. There are also those who argue that the trickle-down effect means that courting billionaires to settle down in Singapore will improve the lives of ordinary people.

Whatever the reasons, the wealth gap makes it clear that the "average" Singaporean is nowhere near as well-off as the average wealth figures might indicate.

High cost of living lowers purchasing power

Singapore households officially have more money than households elsewhere in Asia, slightly more than households in Japan and Taiwan.

But that doesn't mean we have more purchasing power than they do. We may have more money in real terms, but we also end up paying a lot for things like housing and transportation (for those who don't have cars, the MRT is cheap, but the lack of post-midnight transportation options means you can end up spending quite a bit each month on cabs).

It's thus important to take these reports about wealth with a pinch of salt. Just because the amount of wealth you've managed to amass surpasses that of the average person in most countries around the world doesn't mean you should pat yourself on the back and then hit the nearest Chanel boutique.

It's clear the recent reports about our supposedly high average wealth sound more congratulatory than they really should be. It's worth remembering that no matter where you stand on the scale, there is a lot you can do to shape your own financial future.

The article first appeared on MoneySmart

MoneySmart.sg is Singapore’s leading personal finance portal, and aims to help people maximise their money with powerful tools and engaging content.

SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 13 December, 2016 - Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. was named the Best Green Company of the Year for its initiatives to help build sustainable society including Challenge Eco. No. 1 , at the 2016 Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability Awards ceremony held at Shang-ri La Hotel Singapore.

Fuji Xerox introduced the Challenge Eco No. 1 initiative to accelerate its progress in reducing environmental impact of their various business activities and at every stage of their products' life-cycle. Challenge Eco No. 1 is a bottom-up approach to instill one of the Company's Shared Values -- Environmental Consciousness -- in each Fuji Xerox employee as well as the entire value chain.

Fuji Xerox's sustainability activities incorporate the company's Genko Itchi principle to "walk the talk , " crucial to the company's efforts in aiming to be a role model to their customers, partners, and other stakeholders. The company's global sustainability commitment is to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions over the entire product life cycle by 30 percent (vs. fiscal 2005 levels) by 2020 and to lead its customers, partners and suppliers on sustainability issues.

Fuji Xerox has also implemented the I ntegrated R esource R ecycling S ystem to reuse and recycle parts across the document management and printing ecosystem, and provides leadership to the Asia Pacific business community by engaging its customers on what sustainability and reduced carbon footprint means.

"It is evident that Fuji Xerox runs its business operations while creating a positive environment impact and in pursuing global standards of a sustainable operating method ," said Mr. Hermant Batra, Chairman of Panel of Jury ACES Awards 2016 on the award selection . " The committee is further impressed of the well thought value chain that serves as the core of the business cycle eliminating waste and reducing environmental harm, which is both exemplary and inspiring."

" T he environment is our most important business partner and with a circular green business approach, all employees can create direct, meaningful and sustained environmental value on a daily basis at every stage of our value chain ," said Yaz Kuroha, General Manager, Management Quality Office, Fuji Xerox Asia Pacific. "Winning this award would not have been possible without the dedication, innovative thinking and hard work from every Fuji Xerox employee, and w e will continue to challenge ourselves to do better. For us, sustainability has become a way of life." 

About ACES Awards

The Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability Awards (ACES) recognizes successful companies and individuals in Asia across two main domains; leadership and corporate social responsibility.

The awards value and recognize services and achievements of businesses, both large and small, national and international, for their esteemed contributions to their communities and the world. Through ACES, companies and its leaders share a platform to take pride of their excellence, to learn, to build connections, and exchange new ideas while showcasing Asia's best practices for sustainable growth. MORS Group continuously strives to achieve its vision of championing an Asia that is flourishing, resilient, sustainable, and united with formidable esprit de corps among industry peers.

About Fuji Xerox Founded in 1962, Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. is a leading company in the Document Services & Communications field, offering solutions and services to help customers resolve their business challenges. Underlying our solutions and services are our world-class office multifunction devices, printers and production printers that we develop and manufacture for worldwide distribution. Together with cloud and mobile solutions, Fuji Xerox builds a communications environment that enable our customers to access the right information, at the right time, and in the right form--thereby contributing to their valuable communications.

Fuji Xerox is a 75-25 joint venture between FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation and Xerox Corporation, and its direct sales force covers Japan and the Asia-Pacific region including China. We employ approximately 45,000 people globally, with more than 80 domestic and overseas affiliates / sales subsidiaries. More information of Fuji Xerox is available at www.fujixerox.com .

Xerox, Xerox and Design, as well as Fuji Xerox and Design are registered trademarks or trademarks of Xerox Corporation in Japan and/or other countries.

OSAKA, Japan - Panasonic Corp. is introducing convenience-store checkout machines that can scan and bag items on their own, joining Amazon.com Inc. in the push for more retail automation.

In the Panasonic system, demonstrated here Monday, a special shopping basket is designed to detect the merchandise in the basket and calculate the bill. After a customer places the basket in a slot, the bottom of the basket slides out and the merchandise drops into a plastic bag underneath, ready to be carried away. Customers can pay with cash or a card.

The system "could bring a revolution to the broader retailing industry," said Sadanobu Takemasu, chief operating officer of convenience-store chain Lawson Inc., which joined Panasonic on the project. "We all face a scarcity of labour."

Panasonic is trying out the system in a Lawson store adjacent to its Osaka headquarters. For now, customers need to manually scan each item before putting it in their basket, but Panasonic said the system would be fully operational in February once electronic tags have been attached to each piece of merchandise.

Amazon last week released a video featuring a different automation concept called Amazon Go. The 1,800-square-foot store being tested by Amazon employees eliminates checkouts and cash registers altogether, instead having customers scan their phone as they walk in. The store is designed to determine automatically what items customers take from the shelves and charge their account when they leave.

Read the full article here

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The outlook for Singapore's economic growth was trimmed yet again, according to an official survey of forecasters released Wednesday.

The December survey of professional forecasters, sent out in late November, by the city-state's central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), found economists turned more bearish since the previous survey.

They expected Singapore's economy would grow just 1.5 per cent in 2017 on average, down from the September survey's forecast for 1.8 per cent and the June survey's projection of 2.1 per cent.

The latest forecasts for 2017 growth ranged from 0.7 per cent to 2.3 per cent.

The December survey, which had 22 respondents, doesn't reflect the MAS' own forecasts.

Read also: Over 13,000 laid off in first 9 months of 2016, highest since 2009: MOM

In a statement released December 2, the MAS said it expected Singapore's gross domestic product (GDP) would rise by 1-3 per cent in 2017 after rising an estimated 1.0-1.5 per cent in 2016.

Singapore's small, open economy has been buffeted by declines in global trade as well as its exposure to sharp drops in commodity prices.

Redundancies in the first nine months of the year hit their highest since the first nine months of 2009, during the global financial crisis, government data earlier this week showed.

The forecasters expected the headline consumer price index (CPI) would rise 1.0 per cent next year.

The survey found the Singapore dollar was expected to weaken further against the greenback, with the average forecast expecting the US dollar to be fetching around 1.465 Singapore dollars at the end of 2017. The forecasts ranged from 1.37 to 1.55 Singapore dollars. At 12:06 p.m. HK/SIN, the greenback was fetching S$1.4255.

In the survey, the forecasters also cut their outlook for this year's growth to 1.4 per cent from 1.8 per cent in the September survey. That followed third-quarter growth coming in weaker than expected at 1.1 per cent on-year, below the September survey's forecast of 1.7 per cent.

The forecasts for 2016 growth ranged from 1.1 per cent to 1.6 per cent.

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The economists now expected the finance and insurance sector would grow just 0.5 per cent in 2016, down from 2.0 per cent in the previous survey. They also cut the wholesale and retail trade growth forecast to 0.1 per cent for 2016, down from the September survey's 2.1 per cent growth forecast.

The private consumption growth forecast was cut to 1.4 per cent for this year, down from 3.0 per cent in the September survey.

The headline consumer price index was expected to fall 0.5 per cent for the full year, with the forecast unchanged from September.

For the fourth quarter of 2016, economists expected just 0.6 per cent on-year growth on average, with a median forecast of 0.8 per cent. The forecasts ranged from a 0.6 per cent contraction to 1.4 per cent growth.

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