Singapore Watch

Recently, I made the decision to join ERA, one of the big names in real estate, and to become an agent. I chose this path mainly because of 2 reasons:

1) Although I’m not making too bad in my current freelancing job, I foresee there is a limit as to how much I can earn a month, and honestly speaking, I don’t think I would be satisfied with that limit 3 years down the road.

2) I want to reach financial freedom, and personal investment and rental of real estate is one such way. I previously posted an article, on how a Canadian couple managed to put down $10k on an ‘income property’, which basically had two units. By renting out one of the units and staying in the other, they managed to collect enough in rental to pay almost all of the monthly mortgage for the property as a whole. alf mentioned in a comment that it’s impossible today, to get a property with a downpayment of $10,000, much less a property that you can live in and rent out.

Not completely impossible though: with a capital of about $50k though, it’s still possible in some areas to find HDB flats where 2 units have been combined together via a ‘door in the wall’. For example, a current 3 room flat owner might have learn his neighbour is selling his 3-room, and chooses to buy it from him. Under HDB laws, that is permissible, and the 2 units would thereafter be combined under 1 address, 1 owner and therefore, 1 loan. In theory, it would then be possible to live in one unit, and rent out the other, since they still would have their individual doors!

But situations like that are rare. My intent is to be able to save up a capital of about $120,000, and invest in a condo that is under $500,000, purely for investment purposes. That would mostly limit the purchase to studios, but surprisingly, it’s still possible to get a 2-3 room condo in areas like Yishun and Yew Tew! In most cases, the rental collected for the property each month is sufficient, or close to sufficient to cover the monthly mortgage. In essence, someone else is paying for my increasing networth, and pushing me one step closer to financial freedom. When that property is finally paid for, every month’s rental collected becomes pure income.

I decided to join as an agent, because being involved with real estate would help me raise that capital, while at the same time allow me to be close to the market and help me in my decision on properties to invest in.

I’ve started a new blog concerning real estate advice and news. If you enjoy reading this blog, maybe you might enjoy reading my new blog too. Hop down to www.juzproperties.sg, and if you need help selling your house or finding a home of your own, do let me know if I can be of service.

I’ve been playing around with shares and funds over the past few months, using the logic that even if I do lose $$, the sums would be small, and it counts towards “educational fees”.

I have learnt a few things:

1) No point playing the stock market with little capital.

It’s harder to make money with small capital, as your overall cost is higher once you take brokage fees into consideration.

For experimentation purposes, I bought 2 apple shares (AAPL) at about USD$122 each, and paid a brokerage fee of USD$14.95. To break even, my 2 shares have to rise to a price of $137 each! (Selling brokerage fee taken into account). Thankfully, I still made money of the share, as it rose even higher then that.

I think I might have sold it off too early!

2) Known companies vs Penny Stocks

In theory, when a penny stock costing 25cents rises 1cent, you make a 4% return, where as if you buy a large known company like apple, a 1cent increase is only a 0.8% return.

In theory, using the same amount of money on both stocks, you can buy more penny stocks then the other, and potentially earn more $$.

However, I found out that it’s easier to lose money in penny stocks then it is to make. I’m currently holding 3stocks with 1000+shares, and it’s all in the reds. AAPL on the other hand, even tho I owned merely 2 shares, made me money!

I’m hoping that I these stocks will at least pick up and allow me to break even. The buying and selling fee of USD$29.90 however, is affecting it a lot. If I had a larger amount invested in these penny stocks (ie. point 1 above), its possible for me to still make $$, however the brokerage fees meant that the stocks had to rise more then a cent or two to cover cost.

3) Dollar averaging is still the safest means of investment.

I wish I had more money to dump into my dollardex investments. I’ve been keeping my cash liquid just in case I do decide to buy property.

I might pump some money in though, once I get my finances figured out.

Thankfully, I still have a regular savings plan (RSP) of $150/mth. Hopefully that will serve as a good investment over 8 years. (And hopefully, I won’t find out that the returns are horrible due to high agency costs!!)

I’m thinking if I should start another RSP, but this one purely investments only (ie no insurance component). I’m afraid to commit though, because I currently don’t have a fixed paycheck.

4) Higher Interest + Liquidity

I wrote an article some time back about bank interest rates in Singapore. In general, interest rates have dropped a lot.

However, I also learnt that money markets are good places to put your money, and still get decent returns (about 2%pa). It’s not as liquid as going to the ATM to get your money out, but you can still get your money in about a week or two. The upside is, at least you can’t spend on impulse!

A good money market fund is the Lion Capital SGD Money Market. I’ve some money in there via dollardex.com, and the best part about it is there are no fees to put your money in it!

Recently, I needed to get a new mouse for my work. I’ve grown quite fond of the mighty mouse, but was reluctant to spend $78 for a new one at the store.

I went online instead to the macusersg forum, and manage to find and bargain for one at $65 in their market place. The person had bought a new mac that came with a new mighty mouse came with it, but he was using his own mouse.

I saved $13 (16.7%), and helped him get rid of it. The exchange point was also nearer my house than an Apple store!

In 2003, my girlfriend (now wife) and I graduated from university with nearly $50,000 in debt. This debt was a combination of my wife’s $30,000 in student loans and her $20,000 new car loan. Since I learned fundamental saving habits at a very young age, I managed to graduate university debt-free with $10,000 in savings. Combined, however, we were $40,000 in the red (not including a new mortgage).

Over the past five years, our financial picture has changed drastically. Not only have we dug ourselves out of the hole, but we’ve grown our combined net worth to over $285,000.

How did we do it? We didn’t strike it rich in real estate, we didn’t luck into some crazy stock tip, and we don’t even have extremely high paying jobs (we started at $85,000 gross combined). Instead, we systematically controlled our spending so that our expenses were well below our income. We then took the savings and aggressively paid down our debts while at the same time investing for our retirement.

Here’s how we did it …

(via getrichslowly/guest post by ‘million dollar journey’)

I like this article because it reminds me of how a family of 4 or 5 can live on the the $2k income of one working father, while a single person earning $4k might have trouble making ends meet.

Often, it’s not about how much you make, but about how you handle your money.

I started freelancing in May 2007, and on the average, I’m making more than I used to at my full-time job. Thus I have been trying to save more by not increasing my expenditures. On top of that, I’ve cut down on the nasty habit of taking taxis everywhere!

It’s not an easy journey, but like the authors of the article did, I too am working towards saving for a property which I can rent out, and make it work for me! Having a goal always helps!

Have some extra cash around? If you are saving for a rainy day, how about opening a high(er) interest bank account and letting your money grow even more?

Currently in Singapore, a few banks are offering accounts with higher savings. Most of them are able to do so, as these accounts are online bank accounts, and thus do not offer over-the-counter services. This means that you have to transfer funds through online banking. However, some of these banks do offer ATM Cards.

But first of all, let’s take a quick peek at the interest rates offered:

UOB High Yield Account (link)

If you had a million dollars, this account currently offers the highest interest rate of 2% 1.60% 1.2% p.a. Other than that, it’s interest rates are not as attractive as the others listed below.

Maybank iSAVvy (link)

iSAVvy is a good bank account to have if you have between $5k-$50k. It’s interest rate of 1.68% 1.08% is the highest in the market for this amount range.

iSAVvy is revising their rates from April 4th. They dropped their interest rates from 1.08% to 0.88% for balances between $5k-$50k, and 1.28% to 1.18% for deposits balances $50k-$1mil. They do provide an ATM card to allow for easy withdrawal of funds when you need them.

However, for balances less then $50k, Fairprice plus may be the best at the moment.

NTUC Fairprice Plus (link)

The Fairpriceplus is by far my personal favourite. If you currently have trouble maintaining the $500 limit most bank accounts required, and do not need to write checks, this account would be suitable for you.

- Requires no minimum balance
- ATM linked to a Debit/Credit card provided
- Cheque deposit box available for depositing pay cheques
- 1% interest on balance
- Earn Linkpoints at NTUC and various merchants
- No counter services available

Banking services for Fairpriceplus is provided via OCBC.

Standard Chartered e$aver (link)

Standard Chartered was the first bank in Singapore to offer the concept of the high interest savings account. The reason they are able to do that is because it is a no-frills bank account. This means that counter services are not available, and since no ATM card is issued, this bank account is solely virtual, and requires no minimum balance. However, transferring your funds to and from this account is simple, as you can link it to your current bank account.

- Requires no mimimum balance
- NO ATM card/passbook/cheques
- Only accessible if linked to another bank account

Standard Chartered use to offer the highest interest rates. It has since undergone several rates revision, and with it’s latest revision, it’s interest rate of 1.2% has been reduced to 0.8% 0.78% 0.5% for amounts below $5k.

e$avers used to be my preferred account for savings, but with the revision, it makes more sense to hold a Fairpriceplus account instead, since it offers 1% and has all the necessities of functioning as a primary bank account.

Which bank account do you have?

** Figures have been updated to reflect change in bank interest rates. (1Feb08)
** Figures have been updated to reflect change in bank interest rates. (4Feb08)
** Figures have been updated to reflect change in bank interest rates. (24Jul08)
** Figures have been updated to reflect change in bank interest rates. (4Aug08)

Hi all,

Firstly, I would like to apologize for the lack of updates on this site. I first started this blog 3 years ago, while I was still studying in the US, as a means of keeping updated and interested with the ongoings in Singapore, which seemed to tilt more towards politics.

After being back home in Singapore for 2 years however, apathy started to set in. The sun and moon will still rise, set and shine no matter how much a dog barks at it. Having seen many key issues in Singapore being raised, ‘discussed’ and then later being dismissed, or being dictated, I kind of relate to that barking dog.

Thus in 2008, I’ve decided to take a new direction with this blog. Instead of barking at the sun and moon, I’ve decided to deal with more relevant issues like money, which would make sure the barking dog is well taken care of.

Thus Singapore Watch ver2.0 would now be focusing more on personal finance and ensuring that one is financially prepared in life. With this new direction, expect to see more entries here! All previous entries are now categorized under Singapore Watch ver1.0.

Wishing you all a Happy New Year!

‘A’ is for Annuity
‘B’ is for Broke
‘C’ is for CPF

Article: Annuities scheme begins to take shape | pdf copy

Is $250 a month enough?

Is it possible to live today, on an allowance of $250/mth? That works out to about $8/day! Why then does our esteemed government feel that it’s possible, in 20 years time, for it’s citizens, 85 years and above, to live on that amount? If the purpose of a compulsory annuity is to make sure we are not helpless in our old age, then isn’t the proposed amount of $250/mth kind of laughable?

Start planning for your retirement

Yes, I’m aware that we are suppose to do our own retirement planning. But in the first place, if we did do our retirement planning, we wouldn’t face the problem of a lack of money to live on in our old age. Offering this compulsory annuity scheme to this group is like preaching anti-piracy to a group of cinema goers.

The compulsory annuity is a scheme to make sure that people who somehow failed to plan for retirement, are still able to get some money every month to live on should they live to an old age, so that I’m assuming, they won’t end up ‘the government’s burden‘ or ‘the future tax-payers nightmare‘.

To complement this scheme, they need another campaign to teach them how to live on $250/mth.

Minimum Sum

The way this is looking to work is that a sum of money will be set aside from your minimum sum to purchase this annuity. This would probably affect the monthly payouts that you’ll received between 65-85, since the amount available for drawout has been reduced.

It seems like this scheme will have more negative impact on the lower income then any other group.

———

I think it’s ridiculous for the government to tell us what we must do with our cpf money. To limit (and to keep pushing back) the age at which we can withdraw our money was already pushing the limit. To tell us we have to buy this compulsory annuity is just totally crossing the line.

But … if it’s really enforced, it’s not like we can do anything to change it. What we going to do? Stage a mass protest? Nah, that won’t happen in Singapore. We’re too … … accepting.

So the next best thing to consider is, is there anyway to help us not have to pay so much for this scheme?

———

Starting Early - The power of compounding interest

Assuming the government does enforced this compulsory scheme on our cpf savings, how much then would have to be taken out of our minimum sum to purchase it?

1 month = $250
1 year = $3000

Let’s assume that the majority will probably not live beyond 95.
Therefore number of payout years = 10

10 years of annuity = $30000

If we are made to buy the annuity at age 65, taking a 4% cpf interest rate and the power of compounding interest, one need only set aside about $14k to ensure a $250/mth payout from 85-95 years old.

But lets say we are given the option to purchase the annuity at a younger age:

If purchased at age 55, it would only cost about $9.3k.
If purchased at age 45, it would only cost about $6.3k.

That is to say, if you are now 45, and you set aside $6300, at an interest rate of 4%, over 40 years, that $6300 would become $30000.

Along those lines, if you are 25 years old now, you have 60 years to accumulate $30k. By setting aside a mere $2.9k, over 60 years, it would have snowballed to $30k. The baseline is, the earlier you start setting aside your money, the better.

Till 2 weeks ago, CPF interest rates were guaranteed at 4% for SA. With the changes being made to the system, CPF interest rates will no longer be guaranteed. Of course, if your money is placed in investments which gives you higher than 4% in annual returns, you’ll find that the start amount will be a lot smaller.

Too bad we aren’t like New Zealand or the US, with banks offering 8% and 5.05% in interest. Although the banks do adjust their interests now and then, the rates are still higher than even what CPF is currently offering, and the bonus is your money is not locked in. Just like any ordinary current/savings account, you can freely withdraw your money as and when you need it!

Can we really trust our world-class highly-paid government to determine what’s best for us? *suck thumb*

*All figures mentioned in this blog are estimates.

Often, we write/complain more about the bad than we do the good. With our Nation’s birthday a little over a month away, I thought I’ll do a summarized reflection on why Singapore really isn’t a bad choice to call home.

Safety

Singapore is really safe. People walk the streets at night without the fears that someone would stick a gun at them and rob them, nor do they have to clutch their purses while walking along the road to ensure that their purses will not get snatched by thieves on motorbikes.

Here, guns are not a norm. Only law enforcements and the military have weapons. In fact, possessing a gun and firing one leads to the death penalty. Likewise, smuggling drugs is a big no-no, with the death penalty in place for those who try. This is not to say that guns and drugs aren’t available - they are, but they aren’t mainstream at all. Parents need not fear that their kids will have easy access to drugs, because it is not a common thing.

In the US, murder cases are so common, it takes a serial killer to make headlines. Here in sunny Singapore, a murder is big news. It’s simply not tolerated in Singapore.

Many outsiders would deem the laws too harsh, but such laws are what help created such a safe island, and such laws would hardly affect the normal citizen.

Taxes

Taxes are relatively low. Those whose taxable income is less than S$20k a year are exempted from paying tax. Even the highest tax bracket of 20% is still lower than that other developed countries like USA (35%) or UK (40%). To reach the 20% tax bracket, one would have to earn an annual taxable income of S$320k.

Interestingly, a large number of Singaporeans do not pay tax. That isn’t good news though, as it means that a lot of Singaporeans aren’t making enough.

Apart from income tax, there is also the Good and Services Tax (GST). It was first introduced in 1994 (3%), and has increased to 4% in 2003, 5% in 2004, and will be 7% on July 1st, 2007. Right now, it is comparable to similar taxes in the US. While the intentions for the increase is to raise money to aide the poor, the poor will be among those that will be hit by the 7% increase. Perhaps Singapore might follow states like California in the US, where common commodities like food and household items like toilet paper are tax-free, thus making sure that everybody, including the poor, will be able to afford at least the basics.

Tourists should note that there is a GST Tourist Refund Scheme, where if they make purchases from participating outlets, they can claim back the GST paid.

There also exist in Singapore, a scheme known as the Central Provident Fund (CPF). Basically, every working adult is forced to contribute 20% of their salary to their fund, which can only be withdrawn after the age for retirement. CPF was created to serve as a forced retirement scheme for each individual, such that Singapore would not become a welfare state. This is different from the Social Security Scheme, where current working adults support current retirees, and also avoids the concern which some Americans fear - that Social Security will be bankrupted by the time they retire. CPF contributions are tax-exempted.

There also exist another scheme known as the Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS), where individuals can choose to contribute to their SRS accounts to lower their tax brackets. SRS contributions are tax-free, and cannot be withdrawn till retirement. However, as with CPF, one is free to invest the money in any way they deem fit. SRS however, are 50% taxable upon withdrawal. (This is slightly similar to the Traditional IRA in the US.)

Education

Primary School education is compulsory, and education from primary to junior college in public schools is free. There is however a low miscellaneous fee. On top of that, there is an edusave scheme where the government contributes S$170/yr for primary school children and S$200/yr for secondary school children. Upon reaching 21, any money in the account not spent is then transferred to their respective CPF accounts.

Entertainment

- Shopping -

Singaporeans are known to love shopping. This is evident by the countless shopping malls located throughout the island, and the famous Orchard Road which boasts a rows of shopping malls for endless shopping pleasures. New malls sprout up all the time, like the recent Vivocity at Harbourfront, and existing malls are constantly being expanded and upgraded.

- Arts & Theatre -

Most major plays and musicals make a stop in Singapore. Singapore has numerous theatres to house these international and local events in locations like The Esplanade, The National Library and Indoor Stadium to name a few.

Stomp, Le Miserable, Phantom of the Opera, Quidam, Snow Wolf Lake … these are a few international shows which have been to Singapore, some more than once.

Apart from that, local theatres like Wild Rice, The Necessary Stage, Toy Factory, Dream Academy, all provide us with local productions, with local content, that locals can identify with!

- “Asian Venice” -

Singapore was featured in Australia’s Time magazine talking about it’s new look to come. It has been described as the soon-to-be “Asian Venice”, with the two major Integrated Resorts (IRs) in the makings. Soon Singapore will be able to boast it’s own theme park by Universal Studios, probably the only theme park in Asia that isn’t dominated by Asian characters on their signposts.

Most westerners or english speaking tourists would be comfortable here, plus with other attractions that will come with the IRs, and other attractions like the Singapore Flyer, plus existing vibrant nightlife at places like the St James Powerhouse … Singapore is set to be a tourist destination.

For locals, we can finally get to visit Universal Studios without playing over a thousand dollars to fly to the US!

- Beaches & Reservoirs -

Singapore is an island surrounded by water! This gives us access to tons of beaches. At East Coast Park, we get to enjoy cycling/walking tracks which stretch on for miles, and enjoy chalets or bbqs by the beach, and take up some sea sports.

There are also quite a few reservoirs in Singapore, and a few of them have opened up to activities like canoeing and fishing.

- Events to come -

Plus who can forget that F1 is finally coming to Singapore, and in a night race set in the city!

Government

Our government is still largely a one party government, and with the recent unhappiness about the large pay hikes ministers are getting, the fact still remains - the government is still doing their job. They may not be perfect, but without them, Singapore could still very much be a “fishing village”.

Normal affairs are largely transparent. One need not have to figure out if bribing is necessary to expedite normal tasks like getting your passport issued or if driving licenses are given tho those who really can drive. Things aren’t so clear-cut in other countries.

Singapore is known for it’s campaign and schemes. Campaigns like “I Love Children“, set up to encourage us to have more kids might sound cheesy, but at least they make the effort to provide some reliefs for those who do intend to have more kids.

There are also tons of schemes available from work-related to school-related, but you often have to make the effort to find out about them.

Environment

Singapore is clean and green. It’s highways and roads are lined with trees, to provide both shade and a pleasant drive. Being small in this sense is an advantage, as it’s easier to plant trees to cover the island.

Trash is collected daily and a large ‘invisible’ workforce of sweepers and cleaners help maintain this ‘clean and green’ image. Sweeper trucks sweep the sides of the streets daily, brushing and vacuuming up dead fallen leaves, as do the sweepers. Trees are pruned regularly. And best of all, Singapore doesn’t have to deal with chewing-gum related damage, as the sale of chewing or bubble gum is prohibited in Singapore. (If you buy a pack overseas though, you can still consume it though.)

To top it off, for a small island, we have quite a few state parks (eg. Bukit Timah Hill) and reservoirs (Macritchie Reservoir, Seletar Reservoir etc.) which are opened to the public. Efforts have also been made to connect these parks with park connectors. Hiking in these parks provide a temporary escape from the hustle and bustle of city life, and can take a few hours to complete! We do also have a ‘mountain’ called Mt. Faber, though it’s more a mount than a mountain, but still high enough for scenic views.

The Public Utilities Board (PUB) has also embarked on a project to turn Singapore into a ‘blue city’, and not just a ‘green’ one. It intends to do this by turning our existing storm drains and canals into waterways and rivers, so that it not only appeals to the eyes, it also helps improve water quality and provide more areas for recreational use.

Food

Nobody can forget the food. Singaporeans love to eat, and so we have all kinds of food available in Singapore. We boast a large variety of local food, and most foreign food are also available in Singapore. German, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Turkish, you name it, we probably have it.

Connected

- Transport -

Traffic on major highways can get a bit sluggish during peak hours and especially when there is an accident, but compared to a major city like Los Angeles, where the traffic on highways crawl almost all day long, is still an efficient way to travel across the island. Cars are more expensive then in most countries, but the low range cars can be bought for about S$30k+.

But unlike countries like the US and Australia, where cars are sometimes the only mode of transport you have, the public transit system here enables you to get to any part of the island. Bus and train rides are relatively cheap and are quite well connected.

Train stations already has a information board near the entrance of their stations that informs you when the next two trains will arrive. SBS Transit has also recently come up with a system to let bus commuters find out when their next bus will arrive. The system has been branded ‘Ask Iris‘. This can be done via the web, or via sms (singtel only). On top of that, they have also started a rewards program, where points are given for evey bus ride, and these points can be converted for food items or services on their website.

Who can forget TV Mobile? Most buses these days are air-conditioned, and on SBS buses, most of them are fitted with two TV monitors, one in the front and one in the back, broadcasting an exclusive channel called TV Mobile, which simulcasts programs from a variety of Mediacorp TV networks. Get entertained and updated on the move!

Taxis are an alternative to cars. With a flag down rate of $2.50, still affordable.

- Communication -

Singapore has 3 major telco operators, with reasonable cellphone plans starting from $19.95 a month, or for the visitor, prepaid cards are also available at $18.

- Internet -

There’s both cable and broadband in Singapore. But what is more interesting is the concept of wireless@sg, which will cover most public places with free 512kps internet connection. Singapore will not only be connected locally, but will be connected with the world.

Alternatives

Should one ever find the need to get away, other asian destinations are just nearby. One can take a boat to nearby islands like Bintam or Batam, or a bus ride up to Malaysia (about S$50 to KL, and RM$50 back).

Besides that, there are several budget airline carriers like AirAsia and TigerAirways which would otherwise connect Singapore to other vacation hotspots, and even to Darwin Australia.

Of course, there is always …. the cruise to nowhere on cruise ships like Star Cruise.

—–

[Sources]

Wikipedia
- Tax bracket
- Taxation in Singapore

Ministry of Education
- Education System
- Edusave Scheme

GST
- Ministry of Finance: GST Information
- GST Toursit Refund Schemes

Neil Humphrey’s
Sexy City

TIME
Singapore’s New Look May 24 / pdf backup

Universal Studios on Sentosa via Genting IR

Govt Support + Reputable “Branded” School = Success?

It’s never that simple.

University of New South Wales Singapore campus to shut in June
By Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 23 May 2007 1715 hrs

SINGAPORE: The University of New South Wales (UNSW) will close its campus in Singapore next month.

The announcement came less than two months after its grand opening.

The school said it was facing a financial shortfall of $15 million a year due to lower-than-anticipated student enrolment numbers.

Its target was 300 students in its first semester.

But it only got 148 students, 100 of whom are Singaporeans.

If it were to continue building its campus in Changi, it would have to borrow $140 million.

The school said both factors led to an unsustainable financial burden and it decided to call it quits in Singapore.

Students have already paid their fees, which range between S$26,000 and S$29,000 a year.

UNSW says these students will be offered a place at its home campus in Sydney.

There will also be scholarships to help with the cost of travel and accommodation.

UNSW has already invested over S$22 million (A$17.5 million) in its Singapore campus.

It was invited by Singapore’s Economic Development Board in 2004 to establish what would have been the first private comprehensive university in Singapore.

The EDB had said the school was expected to contribute at least $500 million a year to the economy in direct spending.

The EDB refuses to reveal how much it invested in the school.

The episode is clearly damaging to Singapore’s aim to be a global schoolhouse.

But the EDB, which drives the global schoolhouse initiatives, believes it will still reach its target of attracting 150,000 international students by 2015.

There are currently 80,000 foreign students in Singapore.

Aw Kah Peng, EDB’s Assistant Managing Director, said: “The learning point is that we have to continue working very hard. Truly, with every institution, it will be different. With each one, we have to put everything we can to think about all these issues of whether we can make it work, how long it will take for us to make it work, what will it take for us to make it work. We will then have to step forward on that basis.”

UNSW says it would have stayed on in Singapore if it has been allowed to scale down its student enrolment numbers to 2,000 students by 2012.

But this would be quite far from the original bargain with the EDB which had set a target of 15,000 UNSW students by 2020.

The UNSW closure does not mean that the EDB will no longer work with the school.

The EDB says there are many areas of cooperation between UNSW and Singapore which are mutually beneficial.

These include foundation schooling for university entry, research collaborations, University of New South Wales school competitions and joint programmes with Singapore institutions.

EDB says it will continue to pursue these areas and strengthen its relationship with UNSW. - CNA/ir

John Hopkins’: The Experiment that failed
July 25, 2006

More:

Related readings and articles

At least the John Hopkins’ deal lasted 8 years. With UNSW lasting less than 1 year, it’s just seems kinda … fishy.

But then again, in Singapore, fishy is normal I guess.

Related Chatter:

- Another one closes by takchek (May 24, 2007)
- EDB’s funding for B-standard education a big flop for UNSW by Singapore Election Watch (May 24, 2007)
- EDB’s refusal to disclose lost UNSW money is an outrage by Chee Soon Juan (May 24, 2007)
- Straits Times blames UNSW for it’s own failure by Straits Times via Singapore Election Watch (May 24, 2007)
- EDB, MOE hiding from truth by Today via via Singapore Election Watch (May 24, 2007)
- Uncle Now Study Where by mrbrown (May 25, 2007)
- TVD’s Picks: UNSW Asia Wants Out by TVD (May 25, 2007)

Where blogs are concerned, I’ve been mainly following two blogs:

(1) Get Rich Slowly
(2) I will teach you to be rich

Both blogs provide advice concerning finances. Get Rich Slowly has a more down to earth, person next door tone, with a more ‘low-cost living’ kinda approach. I will teach you to be Rich has a more arrogant tone, as seen by the title itself, but nevertheless, shares valuable day-to-day advice which proves quite true.

While all these are helpful, the target audience for these blogs are americans, and so some of the advice given only benefit americans.

For those interested in learning more about investments, there are two sites that have been recommended, to read up on: Morning Star and Fool’s School.

Recently, while being lead from one blog to another via links, I happen to come across some local blogs providing financial advices. It’s always nice to have a general idea of what and how to invest and deal with your finances, and when you hear familar terms like CPF instead of Roth IRA, it just makes you feel more at home:

(A) Salary.sg
(B) Qotion
(C) Five cents ten cents
(D) Tan Kian Lian

Salary.sg has a tagline: ‘All about Income, Jobs, Career, and Investment in Singapore‘. It’s a relatively new blog, and it still has room to grow. It has some interesting tidbits on it currently.

Qotion is suppose to be a portal for information concerning credit cards. I haven’t found much use for it yet, but maybe it might be useful one day.

Five cents Ten cents talks about alternatives, like borrowing from the national library instead of buying, bringing a bottle of water around which keeps you hydrated, and saves you from buying one too many soda, and stuff like that.

The last one was obtained through a link via Salary.sg. Apparently, Mr Tan Kian Lian, the retired CEO of NTUC Income blogs about finances on his blog. People send in their questions, and he answers them on his blog. He has also created a FAQ for commonly asked questions.

I wish I had resources like this when I was younger. They should teach financial stuff in school. It’s one of those things which will still be relevant long after they leave the school system. Stuff like these are so much more important then the mindless pursuits of paper.

Don’t get me wrong, paper can be beneficial if you know what to do with them. But getting one just because that’s what everyone else is doing really doesn’t help you in any way. These days, paper is no longer a guarantee to a cushioned life.

Anyhow, I guess it’s better late than never.

Update: Just stumbled across another blog called My Money Blog. This blog is interesting as the author uses himself as a real life example, giving step by step advice on how to manage your money, or more interestingly, how to make money (thousands) off credit cards! Dang, how I wish I was in the US. Although the concept is sound, the conditions do not exist in Singapore.