MY PARENTS divorced when I was an infant and I do not have siblings. I am single.

Five years ago, I wrote to the HDB to ask if I could buy a flat at age 30. The Housing Board took my request into consideration and exercised some flexibility by allowing me to purchase a HDB resale three-room flat. However, I did not qualify for the HDB housing loan and housing grant.

I did not proceed with the purchase at that time because of the unattractive conditions. Now, I am 36 years old and want to buy a flat under the singles scheme. But I do not qualify for the housing loan and housing grant because my income exceeds $3,000.

HDB rejected my loan appeal because of my salary, ignoring my family circumstances. Yet, five years ago, it took the same circumstances into consideration in allowing me to buy a flat.

HDB staff advised me to get a bank loan, but I cannot fork out the huge amount of cash upfront. The bank will loan me an amount equivalent to only two times my monthly salary.

I feel that the HDB should increase the income ceiling. Five to 10 years ago, a three- or four-room HDB resale flat was priced from $150,000 to $250,000, but now the price has increased to $280,000 to $350,000. In addition, there is the $20,000 to $40,000 cash upfront.

Singles like me appear to be the hardest hit. Couples still have the alternative to buy new flats. Where can singles like me go to for help?

Toh Siew Peng (Miss)

Source : Straits Times – 3 Feb 2010

I REFER to Mr Ong Tee Jin’s Forum Online letter yesterday, “En bloc sale panels should have 80% support”.

The law governing en bloc sales has been improved several times. The First Schedule of the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act mandates that the accounts of the management corporation and the auditor’s report be tendered at each annual general meeting (AGM) to demonstrate the importance of proper accounting in communal living.

In this spirit, perhaps the law should make it mandatory for the formation of an en bloc sale committee to be discussed at the AGM to allow the matter to be brought up for debate, as it concerns the disposition of one’s legal interest.

Patrick Sio

Source : Straits Times – 3 Feb 2010

TECHNICAL complications on creating underground space aside, how would the government value subterranean land?

The Economic Strategies Committee had an eye on this issue when it proposed that the government draw up a subterranean land rights and valuation framework. Some industry watchers believe that underground space can be valued based on its income potential, but overcoming high building costs and reaping sufficient yield would pose challenges.

According to the National University of Singapore’s School of Design and Environment Associate Professor Willie Tan, the valuation of underground space would be the same as that for other properties. For instance, the value could be based on the space’s income potential less cost. ‘If this cannot be covered, then (the space) does not get built,’ he said. ‘If one looks at an underground shop, key features such as location, access, size, design, safety and quality still hold.’

Cushman & Wakefield Singapore managing director Donald Han said that underground space can be valued based on the rents it can fetch. Rents at some retail outlets underground can be some 15-20 per cent lower than those above ground, he added. Market observers raised high construction costs as a key concern. Mr Han reckons that the move to venture underground could take time because of this, unless technological advancements reduce costs in the future.

Dr Tan pointed out that because of the high costs, underground space ‘requires high-yielding land uses to pay their way’. Alternatively, the space should support high density movement of people or goods. As a result, it might be more suitable for commercial rather than residential uses. Underground space can be used mainly for storage facilities, malls, hotels, subway stations, car parks and infrastructure. It would not be suitable for industries which generate a lot of noise, he said.

Jones Lang LaSalle South-east Asia research head Chua Yang Liang believes that initial ventures are likely to be state-driven because of the high costs. The government could perhaps subsidise part of the land price to encourage private sector involvement later, he said.

Source : Business Times – 3 Feb 2010

THE possible makeover of Tanjong Pagar into a new waterfront district is unlikely to threaten Raffles Place and Marina Bay as businesses’ preferred locations, market watchers say.

BT got some property consultants to gaze into the crystal ball and share some views on what the redeveloped area could look like after 2027. The belief was that more residential, retail and mixed use developments would take root in Tanjong Pagar, while Raffles Place and Marina Bay would form the heart of the business district.

‘There have been a lot of times when Raffles Place was being threatened by the development of other financial centres, for instance, Suntec,’ said Cushman & Wakefield Singapore managing director Donald Han. But he felt that companies would still prefer to be in Raffles Place because of the ‘prestigious nature of the address’.

Tanjong Pagar came under the spotlight yesterday after the Economic Strategies Committee suggested redeveloping port land at Tanjong Pagar, Keppel and Pulau Brani after the port’s lease at terminals there expires in 2027.

There is potential to create a new waterfront district spanning some 300 hectares. It would be almost comparable in size to Marina Bay, which measures around 360 ha.

Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) South-east Asia research head Chua Yang Liang foresees Tanjong Pagar housing more mixed use developments. The commercial district at Raffles Place is likely to grow eastward to Marina Bay, rather than southward to Tanjong Pagar, he said.

But he notes that if demand for offices is strong then, the commercial district in HarbourFront could extend into Tanjong Pagar.

Chesterton Suntec International research and consultancy director Colin Tan believes that the new Tanjong Pagar will have more residential and retail developments. ‘It’s unlikely to compete with Marina Bay, which will be the new office belt,’ he says.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Mr Han added that ongoing renewal at Raffles Place will keep businesses interested in the area. For instance, a new Straits Trading Building has come up in place of the old one, and Ocean Financial Centre is also taking shape.

While Tanjong Pagar holds huge potential for redevelopment, it will be quite some time before actual work begins. ‘It’s a concept. The market will in some way recognise that. But I don’t think (there will be much capitalising of) the value at this moment because there are no firm plans,’ says JLL’s Dr Chua.

Source : Business Times – 3 Feb 2010

BILLIONAIRE property magnate Ng Teng Fong, 82, died early yesterday morning, after suffering a cerebral haemorrhage on Jan 23.

He apparently had a fall and was in a coma. He was taken to hospital and underwent an operation.

Property giant Far East Organization said Mr Ng, the firm’s chairman, passed away peacefully.

Busloads of employees arrived at the wake held last night at his long-time family home, called Ng’s Mansion.

There was a valet service for guests and there were so many cars at the scene that Cisco police had to be called in to direct traffic and prevent indiscriminate parking.

Among the sea of faces that came to pay their respects last night were many familiar names in the corporate world, such Ms Jannie Tay, executive vice-chairman of watch retailer The Hour Glass, United Overseas Bank chairman Wee Cho Yaw and former top civil servant Ngiam Tong Dow.

Mr Ngiam called Mr Ng one of Singapore’s greatest business leaders while Mr Wee, who had known him for 45 years, labelled him ‘a genius’.

Indeed, the tycoon – a low-profile, self-made man – enjoyed an unparalleled career. His empire here includes shopping malls, offices, industrial properties, hotels, service apartments and residential projects for lease and sale.

In tributes that poured in yesterday, business associates said they remember him as a private person but a frugal, hardworking man who was not afraid of taking a risk.

CapitaLand president and chief executive Liew Mun Leong said last night: ‘We speak with high regard of how he has successfully steered his business through several major crises over the decades and built an impressive business empire.

‘He has been equally successful in his foray into Hong Kong, a very mature and competitive market, decades ahead of others in Singapore.’

Developer Daniel Teo, a former head of the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore, knew Mr Ng for 30 years, calling him an ‘astute businessman… far-sighted and a price leader. He said, ‘I buy high but I can sell even higher”.

The man never believed in retirement, added Mr Teo. ‘Enjoyment (for him) was going to see his projects.’

Developing was certainly Mr Ng’s main calling. ‘He very seldom engaged in small talk. He didn’t waste time on unnecessary things,’ said CB Richard Ellis chairman (Asia) Willy Shee.

Mr Ng ensured Far East had a succession plan in place and his death did not rattle share markets yesterday or have an effect on listed firms linked to the family.

Eldest son Robert, 57, chairs the Hong Kong-listed Sino Group, whose portfolio includes The Fullerton Hotel here and properties in Hong Kong and China.

Second son Philip, 51, and the youngest of Mr Ng’s eight children, is chief executive of Far East Organization, the largest privately-held developer here, and chairman of hotel group Orchard Parade Holdings and beverage firm Yeo Hiap Seng.

Mr Ng is survived by his wife Tan Kim Choo and eight children.

A nightly service will be held at 8pm, and the funeral is on Saturday.

Source : Straits Times – 3 Feb 2010

MR SIMON Cheong remembers the day he was discussing the vagaries of the property market with real estate tycoon Ng Teng Fong a couple of decades ago.

‘I was a young banker then, and we were sitting in his office debating supply and demand. Mr Ng then said to me, ‘You sit there arguing with me but just look at my showroom. It is packed,” recalled the chief executive of property developer SC Global.

‘As a young banker, I was analysing things to death but he cut out all the jargon. He could see through noise and spot trends, true hallmarks of a real entrepreneur.’

Mr Cheong, 51, who is president of the Real Estate Developers Association of Singapore (Redas), added: ‘In land tender, he was a world leader. As a property player, he was world class. By any standard, he was clearly an icon.’

Indeed, Mr Ng – who died yesterday aged 82 after suffering a brain haemorrhage late last month – was one of the most astute property men Singapore has seen.

Ranked by Forbes for the last three years as the country’s richest man, with an estimated fortune of US$8 billion (S$11.3 billion), he founded Far East Organization, Singapore’s largest private property developer.

Survived by his wife, two sons and six daughters, Mr Ng did not have much formal education, and was comfortable speaking mainly Hokkien and Mandarin.

That did not stop him from being nicknamed the King of Orchard Road, for his properties that sprouted one after the other in the shopping strip from the 1970s.

The oldest, Far East Shopping Centre, was followed by Lucky Plaza, Far East Plaza, Pacific Plaza. The newest, Orchard Central, opened just last year.

His hotels included the Orchard Parade Hotel as well as the Fullerton Hotel, which turned the old General Post Office into a grand new landmark on the Singapore River.

With subsidiary Sino Group, Mr Ng also became the largest overseas Chinese investor in the Hong Kong property market.

In all, his property empire spanned more than 1,000 hotels, malls and condominiums here and in Hong Kong.

Elder son Robert is in charge of his Hong Kong operations, while younger son Philip oversees Singapore.

In the mid 1990s, the late tycoon moved in to buy Yeo Hiap Seng, a household name for soft drinks and canned food, when the founding Yeo family became mired in factional squabbles.

Yeo Hiap Seng deputy chairman S. Chandra Das said Mr Ng belonged ‘to the pioneer group of Singapore businessmen who didn’t become rich overnight’.

‘He became a tycoon because of his foresight and vision,’ he said.

Mr Ng was born in a small village in Putian, in China’s Fujian province. The eldest of 11 children, he came to Singapore with his family when he was six. He had little formal education, and at an early age was helping at his father’s soya sauce factory and even worked as a bicycle repairman for a while.

Although the family hoped that he would take over the business, the young Ng dreamt of building and selling houses.

By 1962, he had saved enough money to develop a small housing estate behind Serangoon Gardens – 72 single-storey terrace houses which he sold at $20,000 apiece.

He never looked back.

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew has held him up as a role model for entrepreneurs.

‘Ng Teng Fong never went to university (but) I think he has a pretty powerful computer up there when figures are concerned,’ said Mr Lee in 1996.

GK Goh Holdings chairman Goh Geok Khim remembers Mr Ng as someone ‘who spent a lot of time just looking at properties in Singapore’.

‘He lived, breathed and dreamt property. Architects who expected to go for dinner after showing him plans…ha ha…no such thing. He would go over everything with them with a fine tooth comb,’ he said.

Tycoon Kwek Leng Beng, executive chairman of the Hong Leong Group, said he used to be active with Mr Ng in Redas in the 1980s.

‘He was a man who worked extremely hard, day and night,’ he said in a statement. ‘We used to study the property market together at his office while we were dealing with property matters.

‘More often than not, we would find that we were still deep in discussion long after the official Redas meetings were over and everyone else had left.’

In fact, Mr Ng was so passionate about his business that he not only worked 18 hours a day, but also reportedly would take a penlight along when he went to the occasional movie with his wife so that he could do his planning and calculations in the dark.

Fellow hotel and property developer Ong Beng Seng said that although Mr Ng lacked formal education, he made up for it with business acumen and gut feel.

‘He was a legend in property and real estate development and left behind a great legacy.’

Mr Cheong agreed. ‘He went into the Hong Kong property market in a big way in the 1970s when even Hong Kong players dared not.

‘They thought he was crazy. Today, just look at what he owns in Tsim Sha Tsui,’ he said referring to Sino Group’s string of properties in one of Hong Kong’s busiest tourist belts.

Mr Ng was a tycoon who guarded his privacy jealously, and never liked to have his picture taken. As he told The Straits Times in 1981: ‘I’m an ordinary working man. And I often take my $2 mee from the Newton hawker centre after work.

‘If my picture appears in the papers, people will know who I am. I am rich and someone may kidnap me.

‘If someone kidnaps me and I’m killed, all my companies will collapse. And what will happen to my family? I have my worries.’

He had a penchant for racehorses and Rolls-Royces, but he rarely granted interviews. When he did speak to reporters, he delivered piquant quotes.

In a 1996 interview with Apple Daily, the Hong Kong Chinese-language newspaper, he was asked to explain his unerring property picks.

His response: ‘If you want to be in the property business, it is not possible to invest in every region.

‘You open the map. If you can’t see the place (because it’s too small) but only the name, that’s the place to invest in…Singapore and Hong Kong are the best examples.’

On an earlier occasion, in 1984, he said he was not a risk-taker, but ‘a long-term entrepreneur’.

He said he did not believe in developing projects only when the property market was buoyant and laying off people when it was down.

‘It is like saying Singapore Airlines will fly to Hong Kong only when the weather is good, and won’t fly when the weather is bad,’ he said.

His son Philip gave an insight into his father in a speech at the Global Leadership Congress two years ago.

‘My father is a mentor, but a tough one. As you know the term, tough love,’ he said.

‘When I was younger, he’d always tell me, ‘I have to tell you, even if it hurts because only I can tell you. When you’re at the position you’re in, everybody’s going to say nice things to you.’

Source : Straits Times – 3 Feb 2010

Wee Cho Yaw, chairman, United Overseas Bank Group

‘Teng Fong was an old friend of more than 50 years. He had an intuitive flair for reading property cycles. I have always admired his acute perception of market forces, an acumen that has made Far East among the most successful property developers in Singapore and Hong Kong. His sudden passing is a great loss to the business community.’

Kwek Leng Beng, executive chairman, Hong Leong Group Singapore

‘I knew Mr Ng for a long time, and had the privilege of working closely with him especially when we were active in Redas in the 1980s. I valued his views and benefited from his insights . . . His passing is indeed an immense loss for the industry and for Singapore.’

Liew Mun Leong, president & CEO of CapitaLand Group

‘Mr Ng was highly respected as a successful pioneer and veteran in the Singapore real estate industry. We speak with high regard of how he successfully steered his business through several major crises over the decades and built an impressive business empire.

‘He has been equally successful in his foray into Hong Kong, a very mature and competitive market, decades ahead of others in Singapore. Such initiatives place Mr Ng Teng Fong as an exceptional property veteran whose entrepreneurship far exceeds many of us in Singapore. Even the largest property companies in Hong Kong take their hats off to his company in Hong Kong where it enjoys a high standing.’

Simon Cheong, president of Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore

‘Mr Ng is indeed a property icon in Singapore . . . We at Redas will indeed miss his presence and guidance. His scale and timing are legendary.’

Source : Business Times – 3 Feb 2010

The late Ng Teng Fong, billed as Singapore’s richest man by Forbes Asia magazine last September, rose from humble beginnings.

He was just six years old when his family migrated to Singapore from Putian, a village in China’s Fujian province. His father set up a soya sauce factory and had a grocery shop in the Jalan Besar area stocking dried goods, preserved and specialty foods from their village.

Mr Ng was inducted at a young age to help out in the family business and did not acquire much formal education in Singapore, according to a short biography of the property tycoon released yesterday by his Singapore-based Far East Organization.

As the eldest of 11 children in the family, expectations were high that Mr Ng should carry on the family business. But he disappointed his father when he decided to strike out on his own in the 1950s, when he was in his 20s.

Mr Ng’s first property project back in 1962 was a 72-unit terrace housing development at Jalan Pachelli in the Serangoon Gardens area. In 1969, he developed Watten Estate in the Bukit Timah area. In the 1970s, Mr Ng developed Far East Shopping Centre and Lucky Plaza along Orchard Road, followed by Far East Plaza on Scotts Road in the early 1980s. Since then, the group has developed Orchard Parksuites serviced residences and Orchard Central.

Mr Ng’s Far East Organization group is the biggest private property developer in Singapore today. It comprises over 180 private companies and two listed entities – Orchard Parade Holdings and Yeo Hiap Seng.

In the 1970s, Mr Ng entered the Hong Kong property market. Today, the business there is under the Sino Group, which includes public-listed Tsim Sha Tsui Properties, Sino Land and Sino Hotels. Mr Ng was the only Singaporean businessman invited to the historic signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration by Margaret Thatcher and Zhao Ziyang in December 1984.

Mr Ng’s property empire today comprises not only property trading (such as developing apartments for sale) but a sizeable property investment business (comprising completed properties held for recurring rental income).

For instance, Far East is the largest owner-operator of serviced residences and corporate housing in Singapore with 2,400 apartments in its inventory. Far East and Sino have a dozen hotels here and in Hong Kong with over 4,700 rooms. The flagship is The Fullerton Hotel Singapore.

Those who knew Mr Ng recall his industrious streak. ‘He was a man who worked extremely hard – day and night,’ says Hong Leong Group executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng.

Back in the 1980s when the two men were active in the Real Estate Developers Association of Singapore (Redas), ‘we used to study the property market together at his office . . . more often than not, we would find that we were still deep in discussion long after the official Redas meetings were over and everyone else had left’, Mr Kwek said.

CB Richard Ellis chairman (Asia) Willy Shee said: ‘Mr Ng didn’t speak much English but was very sharp and his mind was on property all the time. Even at functions, he did not engage much in social talk but always wanted to know more about the property market and trends. There was never an idle moment for him.’

Another veteran property consultant, Knight Frank chairman Tan Tiong Cheng, reminisces about his first meeting with Mr Ng around 1981. ‘He was carrying a worn-out black book in which he was copying notes, doing his calculations,’ Mr Tan said.

‘He was always focused on property. Even when he bought into Yeo Hiap Seng, he had in mind the land bank it offered rather than just the food and beverage business,’ he added.

Source : Business Times – 3 Feb 2010

Property tycoon Ng Teng Fong’s passing yesterday marks the end of an era of larger-than-life property titans.

He was one of the earliest to develop shopping centres on Orchard Road and until today, his Far East Organization group here is probably the largest property owner in the island’s prime shopping belt. In Hong Kong, he made inroads into one of the world’s most competitive property markets, battling local tycoons to establish his Sino Group as one of the biggest developers there.

Market players yesterday recalled the tenacity and resilience of a man who rose from humble beginnings to build a property empire over the past five decades, bouncing back from setbacks along the way, especially the mid-1980s property slump.

Today, Far East Organization and sister outfit Sino Group have a combined annual turnover of US$5.5 billion and total assets of over US$40 billion, according to information on Far East’s website. Last September, the Forbes Asia magazine ranked the late Mr Ng as Singapore’s richest person, with a fortune said to be US$8 billion (S$11.3 billion).

The 82-year-old suffered a brain haemorrhage on Jan 23 and underwent an operation before he died peacefully yesterday morning, a statement from Far East Organization said. He leaves behind his wife and eight children.

While Mr Ng still kept a keen interest in his business until recently – including determining prices of property launches and land bids – he had handed over the running of his business empire some time ago to his two sons. Elder son Robert is in charge of Sino Group in Hong Kong and younger son Philip oversees the Far East Organization group in Singapore.

Philip Ng, who holds degrees in civil and geotechnical engineering as well as city planning, has over the past decade or so spruced up the company in Singapore and hired many professionals. The group has developed many award-winning buildings.

Mr Ng’s wake is being held at Ng’s Mansion at 2 Watten Estate, with a nightly service at 8pm. The funeral will be on Saturday.

Many in property circles yesterday mourned the loss of Mr Ng, who they said, together with Kwek Hong Png, the late founder of the Hong Leong Group, was the pioneer of the private property market in Singapore. Mr Kwek died in 1994. His elder son Leng Beng yesterday said Mr Ng’s passing was ‘an immense loss for the industry and for Singapore’.

‘He was a doyen of the property sector. He was a proven authority with a deep understanding of real estate and an innate talent of looking at the property market in a different way.’

United Overseas Bank Group chairman Wee Cho Yaw described Mr Ng as ‘an old friend of more than 50 years’ who had ‘an intuitive flair for reading property cycles’.

CapitaLand Group president and CEO Liew Mun Leong highlighted Mr Ng’s successful entry into Hong Kong, ‘a very mature and competitive market, decades ahead of others in Singapore’.

‘Even the largest property companies in Hong Kong take their hats off to his company in Hong Kong, where it enjoys a high standing,’ Mr Liew added.

Redas president Simon Cheong said no other foreign player has entered the Hong Kong market like Mr Ng did. He said Mr Ng’s ‘master stroke’ in Tsim Sha Tsui a few decades ago, mopping up a whole stretch of properties in the district, ‘is still being talked about among market players today’.

Mr Ng entered the Hong Kong property market in the 1970s and continued to build his business there in the early 1980s when confidence in Hong Kong was shaken due to disputes on its future between the British government and China.

Admiring the late Mr Ng’s acumen, Redas CEO Steven Choo said: ‘He saw the enormous prospects for real estate in land-scarce prosperous cities like Singapore and Hong Kong. In Singapore, one of his most enduring legacies is that he laid down the foundation for Singapore’s modern shopping street – Orchard Road. We can see the Far East emblem everywhere in Orchard/Scotts roads. Some of his projects were visionary at the time.’

Dr Choo noted that ‘Far East has also helped establish condominium living in Singapore, through its continued participation in Government Land Sale tenders’.

Source : Business Times – 3 Feb 2010

A RESIDENTIAL plot at Tampines was put up for sale by the government yesterday – the fourth so far this year.

In January, the government released three residential sites – including two for executive condominiums – for sale through its confirmed list.

Interest in the latest plot, at the junction of Tampines Avenue 1 and Avenue 10, is expected to be strong. Analysts say it could fetch anything between $300 and $460 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr).

The site was first put up for tender in June 2008. But the government decided not to award it then because the sole bid of $118 psf ppr was deemed to be too low.

Bids will certainly be higher this time, analysts say. CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) reckons the site could fetch $300-330 psf ppr, while DTZ has a more positive estimate of $350-400 psf ppr. Others put the figure as high as $500 psf ppr.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak said: ‘Assuming the developer launches the new condo on this site in a buoyant market in 2011, a reasonable land price could range from $410-$460 psf ppr. But one or two very bullish bidders could bid as high as $500 psf ppr.’

The site area is about 3.2 ha and, with a maximum gross floor area of 717,500 sq ft, can yield about 600 housing units. It is the biggest of the eight residential sites up for sale in the first half of this year.

Two new projects at Bedok Reservoir Road – Waterfront Waves and Waterfront Key – are being marketed at $700 and $760 psf respectively, said Li Hiaw Ho, executive director OF CBRE Research.

And in the resale market, units in The Tropica, Aquarius By The Park and Baywater were sold at between $640 and $670 psf in the fourth quarter of 2009, he added.

‘Based on these comparables, we expect a new 99-year leasehold project in this location may fetch around $720-$730 psf,’ Mr Li said. ‘This will translate to a land price of $215-$237 million, or $300-$330 psf ppr, for the site.’

DTZ’s South-east Asia research head Chua Chor Hoon said that homes on the development could go for between $750 and $800 psf.

In a statement, the Urban Redevelopment Authority said that another four private residential sites will be released for sale via the confirmed list in March and April.

Together, these eight sites – including the newly launched parcel at Tampines – can yield about 2,925 residential units. This is close to the highest-ever potential supply of about 3,000 units – in the H2 2007 government land sales (GLS) programme – from the confirmed list since the reserve list/confirmed list system started in the second half of 2001.

In addition, there are another 18 residential sites on the reserve list – including three executive condominium plots and two mixed-use sites.

‘The total supply quantum of 10,550 units from the confirmed list and reserve list for the H1 2010 GLS programme is the highest in the history of the GLS programme,’ URA said.

It added: ‘The government will continue to monitor the property market closely. If necessary, more supply can be injected via the second half 2010 GLS programme to ensure property prices are in line with economic fundamentals.’

Source : Business Times – 3 Feb 2010