S'poreans urged to take precautions in case downturn occurs
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By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia - Posted: 26 July 2008 2053 hrs
S'poreans urged to take precautions in case a downturn occurs
SINGAPORE : Several constituencies have started hosting National Day dinners this weekend.
In their speeches at these National Day functions, Ministers and MPs have been urging Singaporeans to take precautions in case there is a downturn.
At the same time, they have also been urging the nation to prepare itself for the future and seize the many opportunities that arise.
Speaking at the Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC National Day Dinner on Saturday night, Defence Minister and MP for the area, Teo Chee Hean, noted that Singaporeans are shopping wisely.
The consumption of frozen meat has gone up and the sale of house brands has also increased.
All these have helped to lower the cost of the weekly shopping basket.
Most importantly, Mr Teo stressed that the community spirit is strong.
Constituencies have received generous donations, including rice and other necessities, for distribution to needy residents. - CNA/msThis is contradicting to what Tharman said last month. Congratulations to ministers that they have no problem at all during the bad times for they have taken initiative to increase their salary on top of their already obscene super high pay. If there is a downtown, we will expect ministers to cut their pay.
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Tharman says S’pore not headed for a recession
Channel NewsAsia, 8 June 2008 - 1 hour 15 minutes ago
SINGAPORE : Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Sunday gave the assurance that Singapore is not heading for a recession.
Speaking at a community event, Mr Tharman said, "From all indications we have at this point, I don’t think we’re heading for a recession. But there will be discomfort on the ground. Unfortunately, the fuel price increase in Malaysia does mean that vegetable, poultry and some other prices will go up. We can’t avoid that. Fortunately, rice prices globally are coming down.
"But overall, we’re in a situation which isn’t temporary — this will be with us for a while. Commodity prices are much higher than what they used to be. But we’re tackling it, and we’re confident of tackling it — both through the government’s measures, the Growth Dividends, the GST Credits, as well as the way in which you see a lot of community initiatives on the ground."
Mr Tharman was speaking to reporters at the Entrepreneur—in—You Carnival at Republic Polytechnic, where some 7,000 people turned up to pick up tips on starting their own business.
The carnival included forums, workshops and an exhibition to nurture business acumen.
There were also winning business presentations by tertiary institutions, and a presentation of the 2008 Youth Enterprise Awards.
The People’s Association organised the event to encourage Singaporeans to be entrepreneurial. — CNA/ms
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whats new
always increase things here and there then say it'll help us here and there.
but eventually only tell us to...
brace...
brace...
and brace.
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It is confusing, Tharman said Singapore not headed for a recession, now ministers and MPs urge Singaporeans to take precautions in case there is a downturn.
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管å—两个å�£
sometimes they talk through their mouth, sometimes their arse.
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I am grateful that people are pointing out news that seem to be confuzing to readers. We need to compare the CNA website news, printed news and tv news, radio news and ST online.
Many are simply too distracted by rice bowl issues that they may not be aware of
things going on around them.
Please keep up the good work!
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brace ourselves for downturn??
then why still host ndp dinners?? who is paying?? taxpayers?
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What's the point of comparing outdated news from 8 June 2008 to 26 July 2008?
It would certainly had been more convincing if both pieces of news were released within 3-4 days period.
Please be more sensible and pay more attention to the latest news.
Topics such as this only expresses the malcontent of the TS, and I believed Singaporeans are smart enough not to be misled.
At least not to me.
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lol. i feel as assured as sitting in the passenger front seat, while a reckless punk kid is driving at 150km/h down a highway, against incoming traffic.
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Originally posted by alwaysdisturbed:
whats new
always increase things here and there then say it'll help us here and there.
but eventually only tell us to...
brace...
brace...
and brace.
Gahmen lingo - "Brace" (problem too big for us to handle, you ppl watch out for yourself). -
Originally posted by Cowbaycowboo:
brace ourselves for downturn??
then why still host ndp dinners?? who is paying?? taxpayers?
They should cancel the dinner and the "speeches" be sent as an email to all their members/employees. -
When the recession comes - and it will - that $10 billion GIC and Temasek lost on Merril, Citi, UBS will come in really helpful for Singaporeans... CEOs of these banks have all committed seppuku. Where is the accountability in Singapore?
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Originally posted by maurizio13:
管å—两个å�£
sometimes they talk through their mouth, sometimes their arse.
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Originally posted by Cowbaycowboo:
brace ourselves for downturn??
then why still host ndp dinners?? who is paying?? taxpayers?
Just cut their pay, remove GST, lower charge for ERP to help people cope during this difficult time. The PM stated raise in 2% GST is to help the poor, till now there is no news from him about this.
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Channel NewsAsia - Saturday, August 2
SINGAPORE: Labour chief Lim Swee Say has urged workers to work together to cope with a global economy which may be heading towards a state of stagflation — one sparked off by low growth and high inflation.
The NTUC secretary general made the call in his National Day message.
Singapore’s National Day is being celebrated amidst concerns about the slowing global economy and rising inflation, said Mr Lim.
And to tackle these concerns, the labour movement, the employers and the government are addressing two core priorities.
First, coping with the impact of inflation without being caught in a price—wage spiral.
"The worse thing that any country does at a time of high inflation would be for the unions and workers to push for wage inflation. Wage inflation is different from wage increment. Wage inflation means you are pushing up wages to fully offset the inflation," said the labour chief.
He added that companies in the unionised sector are currently in talks on their annual increment.
One key consideration that is being taken into account in these negotiations is the current state of inflation.
The labour movement noted that private sector companies in the unionised sector have been giving a higher percentage of built—in wage increases in the first half of this year compared to last year, with the figure in the range of 4.4 per cent against 3.8 percent in 2007.
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i dunoe why i seem to be drawing a stonger and stronger impression that there's a lack of communication within the government, with ministers not knowing what they are talking about.
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Originally posted by deathmaster:
i dunoe why i seem to be drawing a stonger and stronger impression that there's a lack of communication within the government, with ministers not knowing what they are talking about.
The ministers take turn to talk about discouraging Singaporeans to have more wages/salary.
The latest is they are going to increase transport fares during this difficult time, thank you Pay and Pay. They all expect people to accept stagnant in salary and wages to cope with the man made (PAP) rising costs (increase in transport fares, ERP charges and so and so).
People if you don't wish to allow unreasonable price increases, please exercise wisdom in your voting in the next election. Be wise.
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Originally posted by Fantagf:
The ministers take turn to talk about discouraging Singaporeans to have more wages/salary.
The latest is they are going to increase transport fares during this difficult time, thank you Pay and Pay. They all expect people to accept stagnant in salary and wages to cope with the man made (PAP) rising costs (increase in transport fares, ERP charges and so and so).
People if you don't wish to allow unreasonable price increases, please exercise wisdom in your voting in the next election. Be wise.
hypocrites.
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Originally posted by maurizio13:
hypocrites.
Money no enough for the greedy evil despots. There is no ending in oppressing the people from evil despots. -
Originally posted by maurizio13:
管å—两个å�£
sometimes they talk through their mouth, sometimes their arse.
It's the same hole for you.... :)
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A downturn will come about, although if we are lucky we might escape from a recession. Singaporeans need a dose of reality. Dump that car and take public transport. Forget about the overseas holiday and visit Sentosa instead.
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Originally posted by oxford mushroom:
It's the same hole for you.... :)
ditto doc fungus.
i see, you still hold a grudge against me after constantly losing to me in arguments.
a bit petty aren't we.
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Originally posted by oxford mushroom:
A downturn will come about, although if we are lucky we might escape from a recession. Singaporeans need a dose of reality. Dump that car and take public transport. Forget about the overseas holiday and visit Sentosa instead.
obviously somebody is not using his brains againnot everybody drives a car in Singapore
not everybody goes for holidays overseas
the latest post by Fantagf was talking about raising fares by transport company
it's sad when people support blindly without the use of brain, or
maybe they did, it's just that it doesn't have enough computing power.
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There seemed to b many trouble lying ahed for ML but is their condition going to improve by end of the year?
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Originally posted by Panache1976:
''When the recession comes - and it will - that $10 billion GIC and Temasek lost on Merril, Citi, UBS will come in really helpful for Singaporeans... CEOs of these banks have all committed seppuku. Where is the accountability in Singapore?''
Merrill compensates Temasek US$2.5 billion for drop in share
price.So,it is genius for Temasek,share price up,it will gain.
Share price drops,it will be compensated!!
Will u all guys pl be more professional in discussion.
Dunt just copy and paste without digestion.
Temasek is not so stupid just to buy shares blindly and becomes
Merrill's largest shareholder.
When Temasek bought US$5 b shares sometimes back ,
there was a capital protection provision
that if Merrill issue share later at price lower than what Temasek
bought,Merrill has to compensate Temasek fully.
Now Merrill compensates Temasek US$2.5 b,
though Temasek uses all 2.5 b to buy new issued shares.
UBS and CITI deals are just creditors--no loss yet
The up or down of UBS and CITI shares are not affecting Temasek
interest to be collected from these 2 giants,
unless they go bust.
I think our learned forumers here know what is creditor!!
Up to today,Temasek are just lenders ,BUT NOT SHARE HOLDERS
OF UBS and CITI.The reasons are many,among them
is Temasek dunt know the full picture of subprime.
But it is a once in few decades chance to get a big share in big and great
companies.
Temasek is vey cautious in UBS and CITI deals by becoming just a lender,
but not a share holder.
Previoulsy, it is suprised to me that Temasek bought
Merrill share without protections.
The truths are it incorporates price protection and ,i read
from other news,that Temasek get dilutions protections also.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/merrill-raising-85-bln-selling/story.aspx?guid={A7AF92E3-5F8A-45A6-AEF8-59B966E260DF}&dist=msr_1http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iPdwYnuGB5awF1tx50Nx_Ytrdm2A
2.Oz also issue same warning
Brace for economic storm: Kevin Rudd
Matthew Franklin and David Uren | August 02, 2008
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24115289-601,00.html
Sg is not alone in problems of inflation,recession etc.
But we have the income from investment to buffer for buget deficit.