ShareJunction - Member Posts

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Ying Li
Sell 40 | cents
DMG downgrades the China-based developer from Neutral and cuts the target price to 33 cents from 42 cents, based on a 50 per cent discount from RNAV estimate.
The house says “we think Ying Li’s uncertain earnings visibility will cap share price upside”.

It flags postponing the launch of the residential component of its Da Ping project to 2H11 from 2H10 as a risk to bottom-line improvement.

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GIC planning roadshows for $4b IPO: Sources

SINGAPORE

The sources said GIC would launch the IPO at the end of the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter. Nomura has been appointed to market the IPO in Japan, they said. GIC is likely to file the IPO prospectus with the Monetary Authority of Singapore in early September, said a source.

“It’s moving fast,” the person said.

A GIC spokesperson did not respond to MediaCorp by press time.

If successful, the IPO would be the biggest in Singapore in 17 years since SingTel listed in 1993 and raised $4 billion in three tranches. It would also trump CapitaMalls Asia’s US$2 billion IPO last year.

The sources said GIC planned to list its ProLogis assets in Japan and China in addition to some of its assets in South Korea.

In 2008, GIC Real Estate bought ProLogis interests in Japan and China in a deal worth US$1.3 billion to consolidate its existing portfolio in Japan and embark on expanding its logistics property business in China, according to wire reports. ProLogis is a global distribution facilities provider with 475 million sq ft of industrial space across North America, Europe and Asia.

GIC Real Estate also bought Star Tower, a 45-storey office building in Seoul from Lone Star Funds in 2004.— GIC Real Estate, the property arm of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp, is planning global roadshows late next month for an initial public offering (IPO) of its overseas assets worth around US$3 billion ($4.06 billion), Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday citing unnamed sources.

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Europe’s make-believe recovery, as debt virus spreads

The Greeks have implemented their first austerity measures with some success.

The fevered predictions of the early summer that the euro was doomed and that Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis would rip through countries such as Spain and Portugal like a virus have been forgotten.

The crisis appears to be over.

Don’t believe it. Under the surface, the cracks in the euro are getting worse.

The imbalances in the euro area are growing all the time. The resistance to the bailout package will rise as the terms turn out to be immoral and absurd. And the big deficit nations are locked in a downward economic spiral.

The euro has bought itself some time, at a huge cost. And yet little has been done to fix the causes of the crisis.

True, there have been signs in the last month that the situation has stabilised.

Last week, the European Union said the 16 economies sharing the euro grew 1 per cent in the second quarter, the strongest rate of expansion in four years.

Most of Europe’s banks passed the “stress tests”, designed to judge their ability to withstand financial-market shocks, easily enough. They have bounced back from the crisis and look in decent shape again.

The euro has also strengthened to US$1.28 after reaching US$1.19 in June.

Even Greek stocks are looking healthier.

At this rate, even the editors of Germany’s mass-market

Here’s why we should be sceptical.

Firstly, the euro area remains as dangerously imbalanced as always. Take a look at those growth figures. In the second quarter, German gross domestic product grew 2.2 per cent. Other countries did not do nearly so well. Greece’s economy shrank 1.5 per cent, while Spain registered just 0.2 per cent growth.

The debt crisis has even helped Germany by weakening the euro, thereby strengthening its exports.

It has hardly helped nations like Greece because they do not export much. Instead, the euro area is more lopsided. Germans are getting wealthier, yet they are being forced to subsidise Greeks who are getting poorer.

That will not be sustainable for long.

Secondly, opposition to the bailouts may grow. Slovakia has understandably refused to ratify its share of the rescue package.

Any political system needs to be both fair and reasonable to command support.

The terms of the bailout are neither.

You cannot tell relatively poor, hardworking people who have played by the rules, like the Slovaks, that they have to help out countries such as Greece that did not.

You may get away with it once or twice, but if the euro area is simply a mechanism for transferring wealth from the industrious to the feckless, it is hard to see it surviving.

The responsible nations are going to want out at some point. Slovakia will no doubt be ignored.

The EU does not pay much attention to protests from its smaller members, particularly from Eastern Europe. But Portugal and Ireland, which will also have to help Greece, may join the protest soon.

Even if they don’t, the billions in aid and loan guarantees promised for Greece and the other deficit countries cannot be taken for granted. The new government in Slovakia was elected on a platform of opposing the bailout. “Say no to the Greeks” is a great campaign theme and will surely be copied in the region.

Thirdly, the Greek economy is in a terrible state. It may have delivered on the first round of the austerity package demanded as part of the rescue. That was always going to happen. But the economy is still shrinking.

With the government cutting spending and with strikes hitting the tourist industry, it is impossible to see it recovering any time soon.

As the Greek economy shrinks, the tax base will fall, and the task of curbing the deficit will get harder. Greece has always needed a growth strategy as well as a deficit-reduction one. There has been no sign of that so far.

Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis was always going to be a drawn-out affair. Lulls in the storm are to be expected.

Crisis finished?

It’s only just getting started.The euro area is growing again. The banking system has survived its stress tests.Bild newspaper will soon be congratulating their Greek friends on their sober and responsible approach to economic management. Think again.

The writer is a Bloomberg News columnist and the author of Bust, a forthcoming book on the Greek debt crisis.

The opinions expressed are his own.

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HARVARD leaves Princeton behind

NEW YORK

America’s oldest university and traditionally one of its most selective, Harvard has topped the list two of the last three years. Last year, the two elite schools shared the top ranking.

Yale was the No 3-ranked university this year, followed by Columbia, and Stanford and University of Pennsylvania tied at No 5.

Williams College in Massachusetts was ranked the nation’s top liberal arts school, repeating its feat of last year.

The closely watched list by the

Mr Robert Morse, director of data research for the report, credited Harvard’s higher scores on graduation rates, and financial and faculty resources.

The rankings take into account factors such as SAT scores, selectivity, graduation and retention rates, alumni giving and peer reputation.

This year, high-school guidance counsellors’ opinions were added to the mix.

— Harvard pulled ahead of Ivy League rival Princeton in the latest edition of the influential US News and World Report university rankings, while a stronger emphasis on graduation rates drove other changes in the top 10.US News and World Report magazine examined more than 1,400 accredited four-year schools and was released online yesterday.AP

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Blair to donate profits of memoirs to charity

LONDON

A spokesman for the former Prime Minister said he would hand over all the money he makes — including a £4.6 million ($9.8 million) advance he has received for

The gesture will mean as much as £5 million will be paid to the charity, which will help pay for rehabilitation facilities for seriously injured personnel.

Relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq demanded that he disclose exactly how much money the charity should expect but Mr Blair’s office failed to give an answer.

The man who committed British forces to military action five times while in office was also accused of using the donation as “blood money” to appease families of those killed or injured in the conflicts.

Since standing down as Prime Minister in 2007, Mr Blair has amassed a personal fortune thought to be worth tens of millions of pounds.

The book is expected to generate huge interest when it goes on sale on Sept 1.

— Mr Tony Blair, who led the United Kingdom into wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is to donate all of the proceeds from his controversial memoirs to the Royal British Legion, a charity for injured troops.A Journey — “as a way of marking the enormous sacrifice (the armed forces) make for the security of our people and the world”.AGENCIES

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&&&&&&&& PROFITS & PHILANTHROPHY &&&&&&&&

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How about a RANGE of acceptable responses?
Letter from Marjorie Lim
THIS is a topic dear to the hearts of all parents and tutors, when their charges’ answers show crystal-clear comprehension but are nevertheless dismissed by rigid-minded markers who, I suspect, are overwhelmed by the volume of answer sheets and deadlines they are saddled with.
One wonders if teachers are capable of creative, out-of-the-box thinking when they do not recognise and appreciate the variety of different words that can be used to express an idea. Unless clear guidelines are given, every sensible answer must be acknowledged as correct.
May I suggest a team be set up to answer every national exam paper?
The TEAM should include a cross-section of qualified, proficient volunteers from whom the widest variety of accurate answers can be culled and given to guide those marking the exam. Individual schools should also form teams of competent parent volunteers to do the same for their term exams.

Our children must be encouraged to learn intelligently, through affirmation when they answer sensibly and relevantly.

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sInce thIs Is a polIcy Issue, WHAT Is the mInIster's reply ?

pharoah88 ( Date: 18-Aug-2010 20:09) Posted:

No model answers, just RIGHT ones
Schools’ hands are tied by ‘key word’ culture
Letter from Brenda Tan
I REFER to “When a right answer is wrong” (Aug 13). Rigidity in marking is a common topic of discussion among parents waiting to pick up their children after school.
Some parents choose to have their children memorise “model answers”.
Others tell their children not to focus on the “incomprehensible” comprehension questions and spend more time on “sure-score” questions.
Year after year, I attend parent-teacher meetings hoping to get some insight into the rigidity with which some exams are marked, if not convince the teachers and schools that there is more then one right answer. But teachers and schools continue to insist on answers containing “key words”, no matter if the answers are to the point, demonstrate the correct analysis.
Quite often, a teachers’ model answers might be correct — but a child’s answers are not wrong. In such instances, teachers can only tell the students that they are looking for the specific key words.
Marks and grades are not just a means for students to get into prestigious institutions.
They are also an indication of the understanding and effort the students put in. I have often had to apologise to my children, saying that while their answers seem technically correct, we cannot read a teacher’s mind on such questions.
While we believe that everything the Ministry of Education does is with good intentions and is for the good of our children, we have to look at how such policies are executed by the teachers and schools.
For example, my daughter, now in Primary 5, said that her Science teacher (who is also the Science Head-of-Department) insisted that “electrons” not be quoted in the answers, and that electricity flows from the negative to the positive pole of a battery.
When my daughter saw a reference book quoting “free electrons move from the negative terminal to the positive terminal of the battery” and “conventional current flows from the positive terminal to the negative terminal”, she was in a fix.
My husband, who has a master’s degree in electrical and electronic engineering, tried to explain to her that there is more to the answer — but that the system focussed on key words made flexibility impossible on the school’s part.

All I can hope for is that such repeated episodes will not kill a child’s joy in learning, nor dampen her inquisitive spirit.

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No model answers, just RIGHT ones
Schools’ hands are tied by ‘key word’ culture
Letter from Brenda Tan
I REFER to “When a right answer is wrong” (Aug 13). Rigidity in marking is a common topic of discussion among parents waiting to pick up their children after school.
Some parents choose to have their children memorise “model answers”.
Others tell their children not to focus on the “incomprehensible” comprehension questions and spend more time on “sure-score” questions.
Year after year, I attend parent-teacher meetings hoping to get some insight into the rigidity with which some exams are marked, if not convince the teachers and schools that there is more then one right answer. But teachers and schools continue to insist on answers containing “key words”, no matter if the answers are to the point, demonstrate the correct analysis.
Quite often, a teachers’ model answers might be correct — but a child’s answers are not wrong. In such instances, teachers can only tell the students that they are looking for the specific key words.
Marks and grades are not just a means for students to get into prestigious institutions.
They are also an indication of the understanding and effort the students put in. I have often had to apologise to my children, saying that while their answers seem technically correct, we cannot read a teacher’s mind on such questions.
While we believe that everything the Ministry of Education does is with good intentions and is for the good of our children, we have to look at how such policies are executed by the teachers and schools.
For example, my daughter, now in Primary 5, said that her Science teacher (who is also the Science Head-of-Department) insisted that “electrons” not be quoted in the answers, and that electricity flows from the negative to the positive pole of a battery.
When my daughter saw a reference book quoting “free electrons move from the negative terminal to the positive terminal of the battery” and “conventional current flows from the positive terminal to the negative terminal”, she was in a fix.
My husband, who has a master’s degree in electrical and electronic engineering, tried to explain to her that there is more to the answer — but that the system focussed on key words made flexibility impossible on the school’s part.

All I can hope for is that such repeated episodes will not kill a child’s joy in learning, nor dampen her inquisitive spirit.

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Discipline is key

Letter from Wong Siew Hoong

Director, Schools, Ministry of Education(MOE)

WE REFER to the letter by Mr Ho Kong Loon (“Where’s the discipline?”, Aug 12).

MOE is committed to high standards of discipline in our schools and will take the necessary measures to ensure that schools are safe and conducive learning environments for all our students. We believe that an orderly classroom environment, marked by respect for teachers and peers, is necessary for learning to take place.

MOE does not condone any display of disrespect by our students towards their teachers and considers this behaviour as a serious disciplinary offence. There are clear guidelines for principals to manage such misbehaviour. Based on these guidelines, schools decide on the approach to manage this misbehaviour, taking into consideration the student’s profile, as well as any underlying medical or psychological condition of the student.

Where necessary, schools will impose severe disciplinary measures, including corporal punishment and suspension. Such an approach is also adopted when students commit other serious offences or break school rules. MOE will support measures taken by schools within our guidelines to uphold high standards of discipline in schools.

MOE and our schools value parents as partners in managing student misbehaviour. Parents are ultimately the primary care-givers, and play a critical role in managing their children’s behaviour.

Schools will continue to engage parents to nurture and develop students with a sound moral compass.

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Discipline is key

Letter from Wong Siew Hoong

Director, Schools, Ministry of Education(MOE)

WE REFER to the letter by Mr Ho Kong Loon (“Where’s the discipline?”, Aug 12).

MOE is committed to high standards of discipline in our schools and will take the necessary measures to ensure that schools are safe and conducive learning environments for all our students. We believe that an orderly classroom environment, marked by respect for teachers and peers, is necessary for learning to take place.

MOE does not condone any display of disrespect by our students towards their teachers and considers this behaviour as a serious disciplinary offence. There are clear guidelines for principals to manage such misbehaviour. Based on these guidelines, schools decide on the approach to manage this misbehaviour, taking into consideration the student’s profile, as well as any underlying medical or psychological condition of the student.

Where necessary, schools will impose severe disciplinary measures, including corporal punishment and suspension. Such an approach is also adopted when students commit other serious offences or break school rules. MOE will support measures taken by schools within our guidelines to uphold high standards of discipline in schools.

MOE and our schools value parents as partners in managing student misbehaviour. Parents are ultimately the primary care-givers, and play a critical role in managing their children’s behaviour.

Schools will continue to engage parents to nurture and develop students with a sound moral compass.

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despite offering very attractive salary packages and rewarding career paths

ATTRACTIVE SALARY:

1) What is the HOURLY RATE ?

     Is it enOugh tO pay fOr Breakfast of 4-member Family ?

2) What is the DAILY RATE ?

     Is it enOugh tO pay fOr Daily TranspOrt cOst and three sqUare meals fOr 4-member Family ?

3) What is the MONTHLY SALARY ?

    Is it enOugh tO pay fOr MONTHLY EXPENDITURES fOr 4-member Family ?

3.1 MONTHLY RENT Or MONTHLY hOuse   iNstalment

3.2 MONTHLY [3 DAILY MEALS] FOOD and GROERIES EXPENDITURES fOr ALL 4 Family Members

3.3 MONTHLY TRANSPORT EXPENDITIRE fOr ALL 4 Family Members

3.4 MONTHLY MAINTENANCE FEE & CONSERVANCY CHARGES

3.5 MONTHLY UTILITIES EXPENDITURES

3.6 MONTHLY HOME and MOBILE PHONE BILLS

3.7 MONTHLY EDUCATION EXPENDITIRES fOr 2 Children

3.8 MONTHLY POCKET MONEY fOr ALL 4 Family Members

3.9 MONTHLY MEDICAL EXPENDITURE fOr ALL 4 Family Members

3.10 MONTHLY HOSPITALISATION & SURGERY INSURANCE PREMIUM fOr ALL 4 Family Members

3.11 MONTHLY ACCIDENT INSURANCE PREMIUM fOr ALL 4 Family Members

3.12 MONTHLY SAVINGS Of 10% Of Take Home SALARY

4) Is there a Guaranteed 13th Annual Wage Supplement (AWS) ?

5) Is there a 14th Month ANNUAL BONUS ?

In summation, does the Annual Compensation Package enough to cOver ALL annual Living Expenditures Of 4 Member Family ?

This is the UNcOndIOnal CONDITION fOr an EMPLOYEE tO iNVEST  ALL HEART & SOUL intO an EMPLOYMENT.

That is, whether the EMPLOYER iNVESTS ALL HEART & SOUL intO an EMPLOYEE.

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This is RED HERRING

red herring

n.

1. A smoked herring having a reddish color.

2. Something that draws attention away from the central issue.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/red+herring

pharoah88 ( Date: 18-Aug-2010 18:50) Posted:

Looking for locals

S’poreans just won’t take cleaning jobs: HR manager

Letter from Grace Seow Mei Ying

AS A human resource manager in an SME (small/medium-sized enterprise) offering premium indoor hygiene services, I find it very challenging to recruit locals as professionally-trained cleaning specialists, despite offering very attractive salary packages and rewarding career paths.

All possible avenues have been tried to attract local talent — through newspaper advertisements, recruitment agencies, participating in job fairs together with the Community Development Councils, and so on — but the results have been disappointing.

In order to deliver on incoming customers’ orders, cleaning companies need to recruit staff from China and Malaysia, who are willing to accept the physically-taxing, long working hours.

My recruitment challenges do not end here. Recent measures by the Government to tweak the foreign worker levy have made it more difficult for me to employ more foreign workers.

Other local cleaning companies’ HR managers, whom I have spoken to, face the same recruitment predicament and are experiencing high turnover rates among Singaporean staff.

Why are locals not interested in this job sector?

Common reasons given are long working hours and the physical nature of the job.

While the Government’s controls on foreign labour are warmly welcomed as a means to moderate job competition, companies that rely heavily on foreign workers — not by choice — are the ones that suffer.

The year-end cleaning season is approaching but without an adequate operation, how would cleaning companies deliver their services if there is no manpower to recruit?

As I am not the only HR manager facing this problem, any assistance or advice from the relevant Government bodies would be helpful.

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Looking for locals

S’poreans just won’t take cleaning jobs: HR manager

Letter from Grace Seow Mei Ying

AS A human resource manager in an SME (small/medium-sized enterprise) offering premium indoor hygiene services, I find it very challenging to recruit locals as professionally-trained cleaning specialists, despite offering very attractive salary packages and rewarding career paths.

All possible avenues have been tried to attract local talent — through newspaper advertisements, recruitment agencies, participating in job fairs together with the Community Development Councils, and so on — but the results have been disappointing.

In order to deliver on incoming customers’ orders, cleaning companies need to recruit staff from China and Malaysia, who are willing to accept the physically-taxing, long working hours.

My recruitment challenges do not end here. Recent measures by the Government to tweak the foreign worker levy have made it more difficult for me to employ more foreign workers.

Other local cleaning companies’ HR managers, whom I have spoken to, face the same recruitment predicament and are experiencing high turnover rates among Singaporean staff.

Why are locals not interested in this job sector?

Common reasons given are long working hours and the physical nature of the job.

While the Government’s controls on foreign labour are warmly welcomed as a means to moderate job competition, companies that rely heavily on foreign workers — not by choice — are the ones that suffer.

The year-end cleaning season is approaching but without an adequate operation, how would cleaning companies deliver their services if there is no manpower to recruit?

As I am not the only HR manager facing this problem, any assistance or advice from the relevant Government bodies would be helpful.

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Overheating Apple iPod brings Tokyo rush-hour train to a halt

TOKYO

Passengers had complained of a strong burning smell, forcing the train to come to a halt for eight minutes in western Tokyo’s Setagaya Ward, reported

“When a member of staff went to investigate inside the train, a passenger came over showing him that the iPod she was listening to had burst apart,” a spokesman for rail line operator Tokyu Corp was quoted as saying.

He said there were no reports of injuries.

It wa s unc l e a r which iPod model was involved. But there have been around 60 incidents of overheating, including four cases involving minor burns, in Apple’s first generation iPod nano music players in Japan.

Last month, Apple was ordered by the Trade Ministry to improve safety warnings on the devices, reported

Apple attributes the problem to batteries provided by a single battery supplier, and says overheating incidents were very rare.

However, there have been several instances of iPods overheating in other countries.

Apple is being sued by the mother of a 15-year-old boy in Ohio who claims his 16GB iPod Touch exploded in his pants, burning his leg.

Last year, an 11-yearold girl in Britain said her iPod Touch also exploded and flew some 3 metres into the air.— A crowded commuter train in Tokyo was delayed on Friday during the morning rush hour due to an overheating Apple iPod music player.Reuters.Reuters.

AGENCIES

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DIE FAST

LIVE FAST

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BUST becOmes

MULTI-BAGGER BUST

BOOM becOmes

MULTI-BAGGER BOOM

pharoah88 ( Date: 18-Aug-2010 18:17) Posted:

HEARD:

DARK POOL +

TIGER SHARKS

= Multi-TURBO CHARGER

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HEARD:

DARK POOL +

TIGER SHARKS

= Multi-TURBO CHARGER

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BLACK POOL wIth TIGER SHARKS

cathylmg ( Date: 17-Aug-2010 13:13) Posted:

Then if not big timers and sharks around, all go to the dark pools, the whole open market will be stagnent liao lor....

pharoah88 ( Date: 17-Aug-2010 12:48) Posted:

fOr bIg tImers

SHARKS

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nOn dOcumentaiOn and nOn aUditing

are serIOUs faIlUres iN

cOrpOrate prOcess gOvernance

pharoah88 ( Date: 18-Aug-2010 17:45) Posted:

The importance of documentation

Letter from Manmohan Kaur

I WRITE in response to Ms Feng Shumin’s concerns about poor care and non-documentation after her grandmother’s hip surgery at Changi General Hospital (“Reader says grandmother got poor care in hospital”, Aug 17).

As a retired director of nursing, I have no doubt the nursing care plan was in place and interventions carried out. But due to lack of documentation, the nurse informed the family member that the injury was sustained prior to admission. Also, there is a discrepancy on whether the patient was ambulated on the second day, post-surgery.

It appears that the nursing notes are not audited on a regular basis. I am not writing to point fingers at the nurses or the hospital. But to preclude any future problems all events, including incident reports, care and interventions, must be carefully documented using evidence-based nursing protocols.

I hope the hospital will take this matter seriously and conduct refresher courses, if necessary, to improve nursing documentation skills.