Town Councils gamble away money
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SINGAPORE: Two out of 14 PAP-run town councils in Singapore have invested in Lehman-linked structured products.
Holland-Bukit Panjang and Pasir Ris-Punggol town councils have invested a total of S$12 million in DBS High Notes, Lehman Brothers' Minibond Notes and Merrill Lynch's Jubilee Series 3.
Senior Minister of State for National Development and Education Grace Fu gave this update in Parliament on Monday.http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/390407/1/.html
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Gambling addicts in a gambling culture. If the silliporeans (yes silly for voting them) stil vote them after this, you know that there is no hope for this little red dot... good thing a lot of my money is parked overseas.
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hmm, i wonder how come they can generate that big amount of surplus funds, and yet continue to raise conservatory fees.
and somemore didn't fully subsidise lift upgrading when all along they have more than enough funds to do it.
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Can any PAP folks explain why only PAP-managed town-concils are using public funds for investment while Hougang and Potong Pasir Town Councils did not ?
Were the TC residence told about this earlier or they are now trying to do damage-control on this less-publicised financial advanture using public funds?
Now, I am very very worried about what they are actually doing to our reserves moni and CPf with little accountability.
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its probably depleted by now
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12m not a lot lah................
to them. -
12m not a lot lah................to them.
okay. It's another "honest mistake"....lets move on then.
But wait! What about my RC commitee funding? I notice HDB residence don't get any better service during the bullish good-times...whatever happened to those profit that PAP's TC pocketed during good-times ?Don't tell me they gonna raise conservency fee to cover their Lehman bro lost?
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They have so much money to use???????????????
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but seriously..
it was seen as a safe investment.. by a LOT of people...
i wonder.. if they left it to rot in a current account, would people accuse them of not "prudently investing the money" ?
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just wonder what they will or have done to the returns....
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Originally posted by Mospeada:
just wonder what they will or have done to the returns....
become part of the raise in ministars' salaries?maybe after this "honest mistake" they may have to raise the ministar's salaries to help them cope with this setback
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Originally posted by the Bear:
become part of the raise in ministars' salaries?maybe after this "honest mistake" they may have to raise the ministar's salaries to help them cope with this setback
no wonder now they want to review those Lehman-linked structured products on a case by case basis
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Originally posted by the Bear:
but seriously..
it was seen as a safe investment.. by a LOT of people...
i wonder.. if they left it to rot in a current account, would people accuse them of not "prudently investing the money" ?
they should have invested in CPF of 4%
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Originally posted by eagle:
They have so much money to use???????????????
from the day they used bangla instead of locals to clean our neighbourhood, they've been saving up a lot!
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Originally posted by the Bear:
but seriously..
it was seen as a safe investment.. by a LOT of people...
i wonder.. if they left it to rot in a current account, would people accuse them of not "prudently investing the money" ?
town council exist not to maximize their kitty.
what's wrong with putting it in term deposits and let the money simmer while they figure out how to serve the community better?
leave the investing bit to the likes of experts like temasek and GICs. all the intricate lines linked back to the PAP. the problem is the government here collected way too much money from all sources, including the people and they don't know better what to do with it.
if they have too much money, they are probably collecting too much from the everyday folks.
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TWO town councils - Holland-Bukit Panjang and Pasir Ris-Punggol - have about $12 million invested in troubled structured products.
These products include Lehman Minibonds and Merrill Lynch Jubilee Series 3.
Senior Minister of State (National Development and Education) Grace Fu gave this update in Parliament on Monday, in response to a question from Nominated MP Eunice Olsen.
Since Dec 1 last year, the amount that town councils can invest in non-government stocks, funds or securities has been capped at 35 per cent of the sinking fund.
Holland-Bukit Panjang invested about 6.7 per cent of its total funds available for investment in the structured products, and Pasir Ris-Punggol, about 2.6 per cent.
The sinking funds are used to pay for long-term or cyclical expenditure, such as replacing lifts, pumps and pipes, re-roofing, and repairing and redecorating blocks.
The funds are also used to pay for lift upgrading, so that residents pay a smaller percentage of the total lift upgrading cost.
The sinking fund is distinct from the operating fund, which is used for short term expenditures.
Ms Fu said town councils need to invest their funds prudently so that the accumulated funds are not eroded by inflation.
The investment guidelines - which her ministry has no plans to change - seek to achieve an optimal balance between reasonable returns and financial prudence, she added.
She noted that investments in stocks, funds or securities must be on the advice of a qualified person, such as an investment adviser holding a licence under the Securities and Futures Act, and an approved bank or a merchant bank approved as a financial institution under the Monetary Authority of Singapore Act.
The 16 town councils manage more than $1 billion in sinking funds.
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they only use 6.7% and 2.6% which total $12m !!!!!! They are really a blood sucker ...I l live in Pasir Punggol Town, will I be asked to pay more for their losses ... By the way, I did in the past complained in this forum that they had even months did not sweep my common corridors but quick to send demand letter once you are behind payment ... now I know why ... just collect money and do no work !!!!!
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has any attempt being made to recover any monies left or are they expected to be sitting ducks because the MAS and banks are only looking at individual retail investors
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Originally posted by redDUST:
town council exist not to maximize their kitty.
what's wrong with putting it in term deposits and let the money simmer while they figure out how to serve the community better?
leave the investing bit to the likes of experts like temasek and GICs. all the intricate lines linked back to the PAP. the problem is the government here collected way too much money from all sources, including the people and they don't know better what to do with it.
if they have too much money, they are probably collecting too much from the everyday folks.
i know.. but from the rabid idiots who infest this place, they'd be accusing the MIW of not maximising the amount of money..
hell! they'd accuse LKY of JFK's murder if they could (see the illuminati topic)
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I think the figure is bigger than that
are they telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
or still hiding something?
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investing not an issue, besides it was viewed as safe.
the real question is what are they doing with the money, 1 billion worth of sinking funds.........
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damn!!
each town council actually have hundred of millions of reserves!!
so far i dont see any form accountability by the members of the MP and towncouncil.
another form of corruption has erupted in the eyes of singaporeans again!!
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with these hundred of millions of reserve, the could better upgrade our living area, reduce conservation charges /mth. and betteer use to improve the life of less fortunate residence in that constituency area.
I feel sad when i watch Li Ming shun and Quan YIfeng TV show helping the poor. and hour later, i heard the news of town council squandering the money of resident!
despots!!!
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its terrible isnt it? it seems they are all doing it. remember the charities that uses donated funds for investments and continue to ask for more.
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some smart aleck there couldnt understand what is reserve funds and too much funds
rather lose it than lowering the charges