Heads to roll in CNA?
Recently CNA was reported to have posted 2 politically-incorrect news articles on its website. Though the "mistakes" were rectified almost immediately it failed to prevent some of its ardent readers from discovering the gems and publicised them in some internet forums and blogs.
With 2 slip-ups within a week, would it be surprising that heads could roll?
1st politically-incorrect news:
Title : Middle class wage stagnation could lead to social instability
Date : 11 January 2007 1856 hrs (SST)
URL : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stor.../251939/1/.html
SINGPAORE: Middle class wages have been stagnant in the past 5 years, according to economists, and this could lead to social instability
These concerns were shared at the annual Institute of Policy Studies Singapore Perspectives conference.
Economists believe a US economy slowdown in business and consumer spending may cause problems for Singapore, but as Singapore is tops in the ASEAN resilience index, it should be able to weather external shocks, thanks to a diversified economy and strong Asian demand.
They predict that growth going forward will be above 3 to 5 percent.
The long term growth speed limits for a mature economy was previously in the 3 to 5 percent range.
However, economists are asking who this growth is for. The income of the bottom 30 percent of the population has fallen. What is more worrying is the fact that the majority of Singaporeans in the middle class has only seen about a 1 percent increase in nominal income in the last 5 years.
It is not just Singapore - economists say stagnant wages is a global problem, and the chief reason for this is globalisation.
India and China are introducing a large pool of skilled and unskilled labour to compete with the labour forces of industrialised countries.
Singapore is susceptible to this because of its open economy.
123, 000 jobs were created last year and economists estimate some 70 percent of these jobs went to foreigners.
"With the rate of immigration even among unskilled and semi skilled labour at a rate twice of what we experienced in the 90s, at a rate fastest in the developed world, the question is does this dampen our real wages as we grow? Does the strategy itself dampen real wages and depress real wages at the low and middle end of the spectrums? They are sacred cows but we should step back and think about them," said Yeoh Lam Keong, Vice President, Economic Society of Singapore.
Another reason cited for middle class wage stagnation, is the move by the government to cut CPF employer contribution rates for older workers by 4 percentage points over the last 2 years.
"So if you were a worker in the 50-55 age group, you could have seen your wages fall as much as 10 percent over the last 3 or 4 years. Now with the economy improving, the government could bring that back, the increase is 1 or 2 percent. I'm in support of CPF tinkering but probably it happens far too often, but I think there's probably some justification to look back and think that the restructuring was a bit too aggressive on the CPF side and it has contributed somewhat to a very sandwiched middle class," said Chua Hak Bin, Director, Asia Pacific Econ & Market Analysis, Citigroup Global Markets Singapore.
The government is looking at increasing CPF by 1 to 2 percent in 2007.
Economists say workfare should become a more permanent pillar of the economy so as to cushion growing inequality.
Adding that long term middle class wage stagnation could lead to social instability. - CNA /dt
Amended version:
same report except for the following sentence:
124,000 jobs were created last year and economists estimate some 45 percent of these jobs went to foreigners.
2nd politically-insensitive article:
15-01-2007: S'pore PM: Temasek should be accountable for Shin deal
Singapore state investor Temasek should be held accountable if its controversial purchase of Thailand's Shin Corp doesn't work out, Singapore's Prime Minister said, adding that the deal was not a government matter.
Temasek -- headed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's wife Ho Ching -- led a US$3.8 billion (RM13.31 billion) acquisition of Shin from the family of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra a year ago and has seen its investment more than halve in value.
The Temasek-led consortium is now sitting on a loss on paper of about US$2 billion, while one of Shin's units faces fines and damages of about US$2.7 billion due to a licence fee dispute with the government.
"It's a commercial proposition. If it doesn't work out, that's Temasek's fault and it has to answer for it," Lee said in an interview with Reuters at the annual summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations in Cebu last Sunday.
"It's their job to safeguard the resources and invest them optimally."
Temasek pays an annual dividend to its shareholder, the Finance Ministry, from the returns on its S$129 billion (RM293.28 billion) portfolio of investments.
Lee repeated the government's stance that the purchase of Shin was a commercial deal, not a government-led matter.
"We're not dealing with it. It's not a government issue. Shin Corp was an investment by Temasek; it was a commercial investment," said Lee.
Thaksin, who was ousted in a coup in September, is currently in Singapore on a private visit where he met with Deputy Prime Minister S Jayakumar over the weekend.
Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the ousted Thai premier had asked to meet Jayakumar, "who is an old friend".
"As the meeting is purely social and private, we have no further comment," the ministry said in a statement.
Temasek paid 49.25 baht (RM4.79) per share last January for the telecoms and media group. Shin shares traded around 23.60 baht by midday. Lee said it was premature to talk about losses on the Shin deal.
"When you make commercial investments there is a risk. And if you take no risk, you make no reward. So you have to make sure that across the portfolio, all the projects you have undertaken, overall you come out ahead," Lee said.
"That's what Temasek aspires to do. On each case, they are very careful to make sure that each investment is a good one, but as it affects results you have to look at the whole portfolio and decide whether it has been good."
Temasek's acquisition of Shin is currently under investigation in Bangkok for possible violations of Thailand's foreign ownership laws. A spokesman for Temasek said there were no updates on the investigation.
Lee said Temasek has "basically complied with the laws of the land" and will continue to comply with Thai laws and cooperate with the Thai government.
Temasek, which has also been a big investor in Chinese banks in the past two years, owns stakes in all the big companies in the city-state including Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, DBS Group Holdings and Singapore Airlines.
It has been trying to diversify its portfolio and improve its investment returns. - Reuters
Amended version:
except for the title, the whole article was withdrawn:
Temasek Holdings accountable if Shin Corp deal fails: PM Lee
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stor.../252644/1/.html
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Home ›
{cat_header} News »
{story_headgraphic}
{story_headgraphic_caption}
Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: {story_released}
{story_title}
{story_author}
{story_body}
{afp_copyright}
{copyright}
{story_title}
{story_author}
{story_body}
{afp_copyright}
{copyright}
With 2 slip-ups within a week, would it be surprising that heads could roll?
1st politically-incorrect news:
Title : Middle class wage stagnation could lead to social instability
Date : 11 January 2007 1856 hrs (SST)
URL : http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stor.../251939/1/.html
SINGPAORE: Middle class wages have been stagnant in the past 5 years, according to economists, and this could lead to social instability
These concerns were shared at the annual Institute of Policy Studies Singapore Perspectives conference.
Economists believe a US economy slowdown in business and consumer spending may cause problems for Singapore, but as Singapore is tops in the ASEAN resilience index, it should be able to weather external shocks, thanks to a diversified economy and strong Asian demand.
They predict that growth going forward will be above 3 to 5 percent.
The long term growth speed limits for a mature economy was previously in the 3 to 5 percent range.
However, economists are asking who this growth is for. The income of the bottom 30 percent of the population has fallen. What is more worrying is the fact that the majority of Singaporeans in the middle class has only seen about a 1 percent increase in nominal income in the last 5 years.
It is not just Singapore - economists say stagnant wages is a global problem, and the chief reason for this is globalisation.
India and China are introducing a large pool of skilled and unskilled labour to compete with the labour forces of industrialised countries.
Singapore is susceptible to this because of its open economy.
123, 000 jobs were created last year and economists estimate some 70 percent of these jobs went to foreigners.
"With the rate of immigration even among unskilled and semi skilled labour at a rate twice of what we experienced in the 90s, at a rate fastest in the developed world, the question is does this dampen our real wages as we grow? Does the strategy itself dampen real wages and depress real wages at the low and middle end of the spectrums? They are sacred cows but we should step back and think about them," said Yeoh Lam Keong, Vice President, Economic Society of Singapore.
Another reason cited for middle class wage stagnation, is the move by the government to cut CPF employer contribution rates for older workers by 4 percentage points over the last 2 years.
"So if you were a worker in the 50-55 age group, you could have seen your wages fall as much as 10 percent over the last 3 or 4 years. Now with the economy improving, the government could bring that back, the increase is 1 or 2 percent. I'm in support of CPF tinkering but probably it happens far too often, but I think there's probably some justification to look back and think that the restructuring was a bit too aggressive on the CPF side and it has contributed somewhat to a very sandwiched middle class," said Chua Hak Bin, Director, Asia Pacific Econ & Market Analysis, Citigroup Global Markets Singapore.
The government is looking at increasing CPF by 1 to 2 percent in 2007.
Economists say workfare should become a more permanent pillar of the economy so as to cushion growing inequality.
Adding that long term middle class wage stagnation could lead to social instability. - CNA /dt
Amended version:
same report except for the following sentence:
124,000 jobs were created last year and economists estimate some 45 percent of these jobs went to foreigners.
2nd politically-insensitive article:
15-01-2007: S'pore PM: Temasek should be accountable for Shin deal
Singapore state investor Temasek should be held accountable if its controversial purchase of Thailand's Shin Corp doesn't work out, Singapore's Prime Minister said, adding that the deal was not a government matter.
Temasek -- headed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's wife Ho Ching -- led a US$3.8 billion (RM13.31 billion) acquisition of Shin from the family of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra a year ago and has seen its investment more than halve in value.
The Temasek-led consortium is now sitting on a loss on paper of about US$2 billion, while one of Shin's units faces fines and damages of about US$2.7 billion due to a licence fee dispute with the government.
"It's a commercial proposition. If it doesn't work out, that's Temasek's fault and it has to answer for it," Lee said in an interview with Reuters at the annual summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations in Cebu last Sunday.
"It's their job to safeguard the resources and invest them optimally."
Temasek pays an annual dividend to its shareholder, the Finance Ministry, from the returns on its S$129 billion (RM293.28 billion) portfolio of investments.
Lee repeated the government's stance that the purchase of Shin was a commercial deal, not a government-led matter.
"We're not dealing with it. It's not a government issue. Shin Corp was an investment by Temasek; it was a commercial investment," said Lee.
Thaksin, who was ousted in a coup in September, is currently in Singapore on a private visit where he met with Deputy Prime Minister S Jayakumar over the weekend.
Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the ousted Thai premier had asked to meet Jayakumar, "who is an old friend".
"As the meeting is purely social and private, we have no further comment," the ministry said in a statement.
Temasek paid 49.25 baht (RM4.79) per share last January for the telecoms and media group. Shin shares traded around 23.60 baht by midday. Lee said it was premature to talk about losses on the Shin deal.
"When you make commercial investments there is a risk. And if you take no risk, you make no reward. So you have to make sure that across the portfolio, all the projects you have undertaken, overall you come out ahead," Lee said.
"That's what Temasek aspires to do. On each case, they are very careful to make sure that each investment is a good one, but as it affects results you have to look at the whole portfolio and decide whether it has been good."
Temasek's acquisition of Shin is currently under investigation in Bangkok for possible violations of Thailand's foreign ownership laws. A spokesman for Temasek said there were no updates on the investigation.
Lee said Temasek has "basically complied with the laws of the land" and will continue to comply with Thai laws and cooperate with the Thai government.
Temasek, which has also been a big investor in Chinese banks in the past two years, owns stakes in all the big companies in the city-state including Singapore Telecommunications Ltd, DBS Group Holdings and Singapore Airlines.
It has been trying to diversify its portfolio and improve its investment returns. - Reuters
Amended version:
except for the title, the whole article was withdrawn:
Temasek Holdings accountable if Shin Corp deal fails: PM Lee
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stor.../252644/1/.html
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Home ›
{cat_header} News »
{story_headgraphic}
{story_headgraphic_caption}
Time is GMT + 8 hours
Posted: {story_released}
{story_title}
{story_author}
{story_body}
{afp_copyright}
{copyright}
{story_title}
{story_author}
{story_body}
{afp_copyright}
{copyright}
posted by locky2ky at 8:07 PM
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