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The Ministry of National Development (MND) may try out different mechanised parking systems in housing estates by the end of the year to ease a mounting carpark crunch. No location has been identified yet, but the pilot tests of such systems are likely to be carried out in older HDB estates with space constraints, said MP Lee Bee Wah, who is chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for National Development. But before the pilot tests begin, the MND will work with the National Development GPC to conduct a study to assess the suitability of such systems, and to gather feedback. BACKGROUND STORY THE RATIONALE 'I would think solving the problems faced by residents is on a case-by-case basis. It doesn't mean residents go and vote to have a mechanised carpark system or not. Where there is a need, and there is no other cheaper option, then we would put in the mechanised parking system, should we find it suitable.' MP Lee Bee Wah, when asked if the process of deciding where to build mechanised carparks will be similar to that of lift upgrading Ms Lee was speaking to reporters on Thursday during a tour of a fully automated carpark in Club Street. MPs Penny Low and Gan Thiam Poh, who are both members of the GPC, were also present. National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan, in a blog entry last month, had raised the possibility of building mechanised carparks in HDB estates to ease the parking crunch. The problem is especially acute in older housing estates because fewer residents owned cars then, and fewer parking spaces were planned. Other types of carparks may not be suitable for such estates because of space constraints in a built-up area. While mechanised parking is not new here, it is used mainly in commercial buildings like hospitals and condominiums. Some have questioned if such systems are suitable for residential estates. Acknowledging such concerns, Ms Lee said: 'Residents worry about reliability and the cost being passed back to them. It looks like it costs more, but as technology advances, and land becomes scarce, at one point it could become a viable solution.' Other concerns, she noted, include retrieval time and the reliability of such systems. But she stressed that mechanised parking is an option meant for older estates which have exhausted all other avenues to ease the parking problem. That is also why it is important to conduct a study of the various mechanised parking systems before coming to a decision, she added. The MPs on Thursday toured the fully automated carpark, known as M-Park@Club Street, which was built at a cost of $6 million. It uses a lift to transport cars to up to four levels and can house up to 140 vehicles at full capacity. A driver need only drive his vehicle into a car-lift and park it in the correct position. After pulling the handbrake and keying in a PIN number, the driver can leave the system to automatically park the car. To retrieve the car, a driver has to key in the PIN, and wait for about four minutes on average. For every 10 cars parked in a normal carpark, the mechanised system can park from 12 to 15 cars, said Mr Jeffrey Tan, division manager at MHE-Demag, which supplies the system. But in its four years of operation, the system has broken down about three times a month. The waiting time for drivers to retrieve their cars can also stretch from less than an hour, to three hours. Mr Tan attributed this to a variety of factors, such as mechanical faults of the moving parts, and a driver not positioning his car correctly. But he said: 'Educating and familiarising the users is a key factor in ensuring it runs smoothly. Once that's done, the incident rates will go down.' source: http://www.straitstimes.com/The-Big-Story/...ory_755139.html

Singapore's Central Business District, new Marina Bay Downtown and its future southern waterfront district may be linked by an extensive underground road network beyond 2030. SINGAPORE'S Central Business District, new Marina Bay Downtown and its future southern waterfront district may be linked by an extensive underground road network beyond 2030. The plan being studied by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will see traffic zipping about unobtrusively beneath the surface in a series of subterranean ring roads. Such roads, which free up surface space and improve the liveability of urban areas, are found in cities such as Brussels, Stockholm, Madrid, Paris, Hamburg and Boston. Singapore's plan is seen as part of a larger one to accommodate a growing population, and it dates back to the 1980s. Then in 1996, the LTA envisioned 30km of two- to four-lane roads forming a pair of concentric rings under the city centre. It revisited the idea in the recently released 2013 Land Transport Masterplan, but added that the so-called Singapore Underground Road System (Surs) will now be more extensive. "We are now studying how Surs can serve new developments in the Marina Bay area and the new southern waterfront city that will extend from Keppel Channel to Pasir Panjang Terminal," a spokesman said. But until exact development plans for these two districts are clearer, he said, the scale and alignment of the underground roads remain conceptual. Experts said going underground is inevitable. Dr Park Byung Joon, head of the urban transport management programme at SIM University, said intense development is expected for the new downtown areas. Thus, building roads on the surface "may not be desirable due to the limited supply of land". Elevated roads may also mar the visual appeal and perceived prestige of a district, he said. Noise is another consideration. "The only option left is an underground road network," he said. He noted that it will be very expensive to build, but the benefits may be justifiable. Observers said the long gestation of such a network - at least 50 years from concept to implementation - held a high cost, as many areas in the city had to be "safeguarded". The term refers to reserving space for a major infrastructure project to avoid conflicting demands in the future. But retired traffic engineer Joseph Yee, 68, who was involved in early Surs studies, said: "The cost of not safeguarding is higher." Safeguarding ensures that property acquisition is kept to a minimum, for instance. Going underground is not entirely new to Singapore. The 12km Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway, which opened in 2008, is largely underground. The Marina Coastal Expressway, slated to open by the year end, is the first to have a stretch going under the seabed. Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/more-roads-be-built-underground-lta-studying-plan-build-subterranean-r

Restricting the foreign workers through DRCs, reduction in MYEs and raising worker levies are causing massive tsunamis in the construction industry as we speak. Guess those waiting to get their dream homes will be growing taller by the day... From ST Forum: http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/forum-...growth-20130321 More targeted approach needed in moderating population growth Published on Mar 21, 2013 THE labour crunch faced by the construction industry is worrying ("BTO flat buyers face longer wait amid labour and supply strains"; Monday). The backlash against the increasing number of foreigners arises mainly from Singaporeans' concerns over the limited supply of housing, overcrowded public transportation, competition for jobs and the dilution of the Singaporean identity. Workers in the construction industry generally stay in dormitories, get ferried to and from their workplaces and, except on weekends, travel during off-peak hours. They also work in industries that few Singaporeans are interested in. Not being on the front line, they do not dilute our social texture much. We have had foreign workers in our construction industry since the 1980s - when Thai workers formed the mainstay - such that they are already pretty much ingrained in the Singapore psyche. So this group of foreign workers does not seem to be the cause of the push-back that we have observed. On the contrary, reducing their numbers ironically exacerbates the very source of our angst, which is that housing supply is not meeting the increasing demand. And how would reducing their numbers impact the building of our public transport infrastructure like MRT lines and roads, another source of angst? Shouldn't we be more targeted when moderating population growth, and not address the issue with such broad brush strokes such that it becomes counterproductive to what we are trying to achieve? Tan Kok Leong

stay in singapore complain to singapore govt move to johor also complain to malaysia govt better ask malaysia govt to allow more FTs land bigger can absorb more Some firms put move on hold; M'sian minister says KL will try to resolve the problem Mr Mustapa: The dearth of human capital tops the concerns of Singapore businesses looking to move to the Iskandar region, he said. [sINGAPORE] Businesses that are looking to set up shop in Iskandar Malaysia to escape the tight labour market here may face a similar set of problems across the Causeway - a lack of skilled labour to support their operations. The dearth of human capital tops the concerns of Singapore businesses looking to move to the Iskandar region, said Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed. He was in Singapore yesterday to meet companies looking to expand or relocate there. Mr Mustapa told reporters that he had met with the chairman and 12 board members of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) and separately with six Singapore-owned SMEs yesterday to address concerns they had about moving to Iskandar. "Labour keeps cropping up (in discussions)," said Mr Mustapa. He noted that the companies he spoke to did not have too many issues otherwise but the lack of skilled personnel stood out. He said it was a universal problem. Nevertheless, it is a pressing concern for Singapore SMEs looking to expand there because there is "no point setting up business there if you cannot get people to work", said Chan Chong Beng, president of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) here. However, he said that the shortage of workers in Iskandar is not surprising, considering that Malaysia as a whole is facing a dearth of skilled manpower and even Kuala Lumpur has not been spared. Part of the problem with Iskandar is that a high proportion of the skilled labour in Johor already plies daily to Singapore to work here. "The lack of manpower there is a very important issue as most of the skilled labour nearby is already coming to Singapore to work," explained Douglas Foo, CEO of Sakae Holdings whose plans to move there hinge on this issue being resolved. "We need to convince some of our colleagues (in Singapore) to assist (in reducing their demand of skilled labour here) if we are to move forward with our plans," he added. Mr Chan agreed that the inflow of skilled Malaysian labour into Singapore hampers ASME members' plans to expand into Iskandar. But he said that some SMEs here are exploring ways to overcome this structural problem. "A lot of SMEs here are asking their Malaysian labour here, especially those that travel into Singapore every day, to stay in Johor and work in their operations there instead. In return they are even offering to continue to pay them in Singapore dollars," Mr Chan said. In the interim, SMEs here are even asking their Singapore staff to work in their Iskandar operations, although Mr Chan admits that this will not be a sustainable solution in the long term. Shifting the supply of labour from Singapore to Johor may just add more pressure to the already tight labour market here. And paying workers in Malaysia in Singapore dollars or sending Singapore workers to work there will only increase the cost of labour in Iskandar, which could ultimately erode the cost advantage Iskandar has to offer. According to Mr Mustapa, the Malaysian government recognises the problem and is taking steps to address it. These include working with companies to identify Malaysian university graduates and training them in the required specialised skills. It's not just the SMEs that are worried. Even large companies here, that are looking to Iskandar as a cheaper cost alternative, are hesitating in moving because of the labour shortage, Shankar Iyer, the former chairman of the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce (SICC) told BT. The problem may only worsen as the Iskandar region develops due to the increased demand for labour, especially if infrastructure does not grow adequately. "If you look at Nusajaya and Medini, there are very impressive projects coming up, but the problem is basically manpower in general, not just skilled labour, and part of this is because there is inadequate infrastructure to bring the people in from the rest of Johor," said Mr Iyer, who is chairman and CEO of The Iyer Practice. As Iskandar grows, the rise in SMEs there, both domestic and foreign, will increase the demand for manpower. There are almost 70,000 SMEs registered in Johor now, with 85 per cent of them operating within Iskandar. As at the end of the first quarter of 2013, the cumulative committed investment coming from Singapore into Iskandar Malaysia stood at 6 billion ringgit (S$2.4 billion). According to Ismail Ibrahim, the chief executive of Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), out of this amount, as much as 5 billion ringgit of investments into Iskandar are from Singapore manufacturing companies, most of them SMEs.

I have written an email to public transport council regarding a solution to the crowding of mrt during peak hours. Posting here for you ppl to see and just throw questions on its viability. Solution: Put one extra carriage in the front and the back. This immediately increases the MRT capacity immediately. I know the the carriage platforms are of a standard length. The solution is simple. Simply program the first and last carriage doors not to open. This might inconvenience the passengers if they want to get out. A simple observation is that the bulk of passengers get off at certain areas only during peak hours which is orchard for the north side, bugis from east and tanjong pagar from west. Thus, I do not think ppl will be stuck in the carriages. For return trips, I believe that the bulk of travellers also get off at certain stations. Of course, there might be hiccups but I feel a pilot study can be conducted to check its viability. Cheaper than buying new trains and tracks. What do you al think?

hopefully our GST will be cut too.. but GST are here to help the poor.. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/artic...ImY3Y-I01K-OEDA LONDON (AFP)

Ford sales plunge Auto maker says credit squeeze, customer worries led to 35% drop in sales -- much worse than expected. By Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer October 1, 2008: 12:11 PM ET Ford said the credit squeeze led to a 34% drop in sales in September, much worse than even pessimistic industry forecasts. NEW YORK -- Sales at Ford Motor Co. plunged in September as lower gasoline prices were not enough to overcome tighter credit for buyers and dealers during the month. Ford (F, Fortune 500) reported that U.S. sales tumbled 35% from a year earlier. Sales tracker Edmunds.com had forecast a 25% drop in sales in the period. Overall industry sales are expected to fall 20% from year-ago levels. Experts said many consumers were apparently reluctant to make big ticket purchases at a time of economic upheaval. And for those who wanted to buy a car, some were unable to get a loan as the credit markets tightened during the mounting crisis on Wall Street. In addition to auto loans being more difficult to get, a growing number of dealerships also have been hit by the credit crunch and have found it increasingly difficult to get the cash they need to do business. "Consumers and businesses are in a very fragile place," said Jim Farley, Ford group vice president. "An already weak economy compounded by very tight credit conditions has created an atmosphere of caution." The other automakers are due to report later in the day. General Motors (GM, Fortune 500), the nation's largest automaker, is expected to report that sales fell 24% while Chrysler LLC sales are forecast to drop by 37%. But it's not just U.S. automakers that are being hit by the credit squeeze. Toyota Motor (TM), Honda Motor (HMC) and Nissan (NSANY) are expected to post steep declines in U.S. sales as well.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10...ress-train.html

Credit Crunch in US has affected Euro Land ... so do you think it's here in Asia ?

Mark Mobius, Executive Chairman, Templeton Asset Management, Ltd. The Fed's efforts to bolster the markets by providing more funds to more market players for longer periods and against broader ranges of collateral were urgently needed, and should be even more aggressive. We believe the Fed is right to accept mortgage-backed securities as collateral for central bank loans. But more importantly, the Fed should revise the entire accounting system and eliminate the mark-to-market requirement, which causes distortions when markets are as dysfunctional as they are now. Requiring banks to mark down their mortgage assets to market prices, even though trading in these securities is so illiquid there are no reliable market prices, is driving the downward spiral. What is happening is that as soon as you revalue one set of securities, everybody else has to do the same thing because that becomes the benchmark. Accounting firms and auditors must be sanctioned for making accounts extremely opaque in addition to creating a system in which too much subjective judgment is left to them and their clients, company managements. Without the current write-downs, banks would probably have enough capital to lend out to homeowners. Of course, the prices of the stocks of our emerging market portfolios have been affected by market turbulence but we continue to seek investment bargains and stick to our proved investment strategy. We are currently finding many opportunities for bottom fishing. Price declines in many stocks have exceeded 50%, making them highly attractive.

More hedge funds in UK, Europe expected to close Freeze on investor withdrawals sounds death knell; banks checking credit lines By NEIL BEHRMANN IN LONDON THE Bear Stearns crisis, Carlyle Capital Corporation's debt default and the collapse of leading London credit fund Peloton are expected to lead to more hedge fund closures in the UK and Europe. Endeavour Capital, a London-based firm founded by former Salomon Smith Barney traders, has fallen about 28 per cent or US$3 billion this month because of 'extreme volatility and vast moves' in Japanese bonds, according to two investors. And in the US, JWM Partners - an investment firm run by former Long-Term Capital Management boss John Meriwether - has lost 24 per cent of its US$1 billion fixed-income hedge fund so far this year, insiders say. Since November last year, some 25 hedge funds have frozen redemptions, preventing investors from rushing for the door at the same time, according to industry newsletter Infovest21. Many industry observers say that a hedge fund imposing a freeze on investor withdrawals is a death knell - the beginning of the end of the fund. In June 2007, Bear Stearns' two hedge funds - widely regarded as the catalysts that precipitated the US and European credit crunch and market turmoil from June 2007 - blocked withdrawals. By July, both had filed for bankruptcy. In the past week, Drake Capital Management told investors that it was considering closing its US$3 billion Global Opportunities Fund. And GO Capital Asset Management announced that it was freezing redemptions on its US$940 million GO fund. GPS Partners, Pursuit Capital Partners, Alcentra European Credit, Citi Corporate Special Opportunities Fund and Elgin are other funds that have frozen redemptions this year. Indeed, in the past week, funds with combined investor capital of more than US$10 billion and extensive borrowings have either shut down or frozen redemptions. Names of new potential hedge fund failures haven't been mentioned. But the bailout of Bear Stearns - one of the 'prime brokers' that lend to hedge funds - points to the vulnerability of hedge funds with US$500 million to US$2 billion under management, analysts say. In particular, funds with assets of US$10 million to US$100 million fear that prime brokers will tighten the lending noose. So far, attention is on credit funds, but bankers are examining the extent of leverage and whether funds in the long/short equity and mergers and acquisitions space are struggling to perform. Banks are carefully examining credit lines to funds that hold a variety of low and high-grade mortgage-backed securities, junk bonds and debt that financed leveraged corporate buyouts in the private equity and M&A boom. Valuations of illiquid securities are also being questioned, including hedge fund holdings of private equity. Fund managers who rely on several investment bank prime brokers are in the most danger, as there is less goodwill than in a one-to-one relationship, hedge fund consultants say. Without the leverage and performance, smaller funds will have inadequate management fees to cover expenses and are expected to close, they add. Terry Smith, the chairman of UK investment bank Collins Stewart, has predicted that the fall-out from the credit crunch is far from over, and that the turmoil in financial markets will drag out into 2009. The big worry is that the US sub-prime crisis has spread to securities that have been rated AAA and investment grade. There is considerable worry about a real estate crunch in the UK, where Northern Rock has already failed, and problems in Spain, Ireland, France and Italy

http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/07/news/econo...sion=2008030715

Merrill: Where Was The Board? Liz Moyer, 10.28.07, 10:15 PM ET The credit crisis may have finally claimed the chief executive of a major financial firm. Stanley O'Neal, chief executive of Merrill Lynch (nyse: MER - news - people ), was reportedly close to resigning Sunday after shockingly bad third-quarter results, an admission that risk management had broken down at the firm and speculation he floated a last-ditch merger idea with Wachovia (nyse: WB - news - people ) days before reporting the $2.2 billion loss. The Wall Street Journal said that O'Neal was negotiating the terms of his departure Sunday after Merrill's board of directors decided Friday to seek his scalp over the poor results. A Merrill spokesperson declined to comment. Although O