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PAP MP pays $6.5 million for unit at luxury condo Marina Bay Suites

jeremyyau555

Alfrescian
Loyal
According to a report by Business Times on 8 December 2009, Keppel Land said that it has two granted options to purchase units in Marina Bay Suites to a director of Keppel Land and his wife, and a director of Keppel Corporation (KepLand’s parent company) and his wife.

Mr and Mrs Niam Chiang Meng have bought a 2,045 sq ft four-bedroom unit at the development for $4.6 million, or $2,238 per square foot. Mr Niam is a KepLand director.

Mr Niam Chiang Meng is the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Community, Youth and Sports. Prior to his appointment in 2005, Mr Niam served as Chief Executive Officer of the Housing and Development Board from 2002 to 2004.

A PAP MP Mr Alvin Yeo Hirn Hai have also bought a 2,680 sq ft four-bedroom unit for $6.5 million, or $2,442 psf together with his wife. Mr Yeo is a director of Keppel Corp. Mr Yeo is also a Member of Parliament for Hong Kah GRC.

The Marina Bay Suites is a luxury condominium project built in the prime district of Marina Bay, just a stone throw away from the soon-to-be complete Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort.

A 99-year leasehold project, it is constructed jointly by Singapore’s Keppel Land and Hong Kong’s Cheung Kong Holdings Limited and Hong Kong Land.

Together with other projects such as The Sail in the vicinity, the Marina Bay Suites is one of the most expensive condominiums in Singapore to date. Only the very rich and expatriates are able to afford a unit there.

In other first world countries, it will be near impossible for a civil servant or MP to buy such a high-end condominium with their modest pays. However, Singapore’s ministers and top civil servants draw the highest salaries in the world.

A Superscale grade (SR9) civil servant is expected to get an annual salary of $338, 100 this year, or $28,175 a month. (Source: Press release from Public Service Division, 26 Nov 2009) Being senior civil servants in the top echelon of the civil service, Permanent Secretaries are probably pay more. In comparison, the median pay of the average Singapore worker is only $2,600 a month.

Singapore MPs are given a monthly allowance of around $13,000 a month on top of their full-time jobs. It is not uncommon to see MPs like Mr Alvin Yeo holding directorships in state-linked companies such as Keppel Land.

For example, former Minister for Information, Acts and Communication Dr Lee Boon Yang was recently appointed as a non-executive Chairman of Keppel Corporation though he waas trained as a dentist.

When the issue of MPs holding multiple directorships was raised in parliament a few years ago, it brought a chorus of protests from some PAP MPs.

PAP MP John Chen, who holds 8 directorships said:

“I don’t think that there should be a cap on the number of directorship that a person can hold.”

His colleague Wang Kai Yuen who holds a record 11 directorships added:

“It’s not for the money because some of the companies pay me as little as $10,000 a year”

In Singapore, there is no clear distinction between the government and the private sector. Many of its major blue chip companies like DBS, Singtel and SIA are actually “pseudo-state” companies owned by either one of the government’s sovereign wealth funds – Temasek Holdings or GIC.

As such, personnel can be transferred seamlessly from the state-linked companies to the government and vice-versa and more than often not, they all belong to the same clique with affiliations to the ruling party.

Current Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong was a former CEO of NatSteel, a government-linked company. The Chairman of Singapore’s sole print media company SPH is Dr Tony Tan, a former deputy prime minister.

While there is nothing wrong in civil servants and MPs purchasing private properties, one cannot help wondering if such highly paid senior officials and representatives of the people are able to empathize with the hardships faced by ordinary citizens on the ground.
 

streetsmart73

Alfrescian (InfP)
Generous Asset
hi there


1. sinkies boleh man!
2. left hand slaps right hand, all-in-one-familee.
3. well done!
 

hairylee

Alfrescian
Loyal
Singapore got the most millionaires Ministers, MPs and Civil Servants in the world based on per sq foot of land.
 

RonRon

Alfrescian
Loyal
I will vote for a sucessful candidates.. Mr Nigam have proved to us that he is a winner in life, only briliant mind make alot of money and can deserve to live in a luxury condo. Will you rather vote for a opposition candidates with only diploma and live in a 4 room flat to lead our nation? The choice is urs
 

Cerebral

Alfrescian (InfP) [Comp]
Generous Asset
Yeah! Another first for Singapore. Most Pubic Service Millionaires per sq ft. :smile:
 

annexa

Alfrescian
Loyal
I thought old Lee wanted integration between FT and sinkie, rich and not so rich? Like this is separation right?
 

oli9

Alfrescian
Loyal
I will vote for a sucessful candidates.. Mr Nigam have proved to us that he is a winner in life, only briliant mind make alot of money and can deserve to live in a luxury condo. Will you rather vote for a opposition candidates with only diploma and live in a 4 room flat to lead our nation? The choice is urs

What about TONY DAVIS, the DIPLOMA HOLDER CEO of TigerAirways?
Why was he allowed to helm this top posts? SIA no scholars meh? Would you take a flight that is run by a Diploma Holder?
 

Whats4

Alfrescian
Loyal
What about TONY DAVIS, the DIPLOMA HOLDER CEO of TigerAirways?
Why was he allowed to helm this top posts? SIA no scholars meh? Would you take a flight that is run by a Diploma Holder?

anything wrong with his education?:confused:
 

makapaaa

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
I will vote for a sucessful candidates.. Mr Nigam have proved to us that he is a winner in life, only briliant mind make alot of money and can deserve to live in a luxury condo. Will you rather vote for a opposition candidates with only diploma and live in a 4 room flat to lead our nation? The choice is urs
<TABLE id=msgUN border=0 cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top>
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Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Why PAPee MUST Be Voted Out in Next GE</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>
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Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead vAlign=top><TD class=msgF width="1%" noWrap align=right>From: </TD><TD class=msgFname width="68%" noWrap>makapa <NOBR></NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate width="30%" noWrap align=right>12:35 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT height=20 width="1%" noWrap align=right>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname width="68%" noWrap>ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 9) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft rowSpan=4 width="1%"> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>25530.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2><HR></TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>[URL]http://singaporeanskeptic.blogspot.com/2009/11/singaporeans-in-their-40s.html[/URL]

I recently went back to visit my parents and catch up with friends. Although it was a short trip, I left Singapore with a rather heavy heart. Maybe it is just me, as I have been away for a while. The conversations I had with friends, strangers and various contacts do suggest that life is tough for Singaporeans in the early 40s. However, the people I spoke to may not be representative of the population. Maybe you have a different view on this matter and I like to hear a different perspective.

1) I was speaking to a nice taxi driver on my way from the airport to my parents' place. The taxi driver uncle was very polite and speaks very well. I found out that he used to be an Assistant GM for a manufacturing plant (electronics) in Singapore which had to be shut down and relocated to China. He is 45 and has two kids still in school. His job search took more than 2 years and he decided to drive taxi as an interim measure to keep the income coming while he continue his job search. His comments: " when you are in your 40s, you better make sure you either at the top of your profession, CEO, or running your business. If you are in the middle management level, most headhunters will not be interested in you unless you have very specialized domain knowledge or expertise. "

2) I spoke to a friends of mine in a dinner setting. (age group 38-41) Most of them are senior executives (VP level) at various industries. I asked them a question, " do you see yourself keeping your job when you hit 45?" Most of them were not too optimistic about it. My friends are in sales and HR in various industries, software, IT, telecom, manufacturing etc. Their responses were quite similar. If you don't make it to senior management level, say at director level or above, chances of you keeping your job above 45 is going to be tough. How many people make it to the top? For the singles, adjustment is less of an issue as the smart ones would have amassed some cash and property that will help them through the winter years. However, at 45, the winter years is going to be very, very long given the average life expetancy these days. For those who are married with kids still in School, it will be very tough. Most of them would not have enough for early retirement and options are limited at that age. It seems strange to me that if only the senior executives (director, business owners, CEO) get to keep their job above 50, then where are those people who are not the same calibre at that age group? For people in the HR and accounting professions, I told them there is still lots of demand in China, if they are willing to take local package and rough it out for a couple of years. Many were surprised that some jobs in China pays better than Singapore. However, most of them expressed reluctuance to work abroad and not willing to be away from family for an extended period of time. I can only conclude that my friends are not hungry enough and life is probably still tolerable for now.

3) with the exceptions of the high fliers and those in the comfortable government jobs, it seems that 45 is roughly the cut off age for meaningful employment. Past that age, the income level will start dropping and it will be difficult to hold on to long term meaningful employment. How many of us have enough for retirement at 45? How many of us are planning for things to keep themselves busy while making some income beyond 45? What are the options available in Singapore at that age besides driving taxi, McDonalds and 'consultancy'. The latter being a euphemisum for being unemployed. However, many people don't seem to be worried until it hits them by surprise and it becomes too late to do anything.

I don't have solutions, but I think if we are start thinking about such issues early, we will be better equipped to deal with it when it comes.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
 

Papsmearer

Alfrescian (InfP) - Comp
Generous Asset
ACtually CPIB should be investigating this. $6.5 million for a condo is still a suspiciously high price for an MP and Director of Keppel to afford. Most probably, the bloody bank dare not deny him the mortgage to buy the condo.
 

TeeKee

Alfrescian
Loyal
who is dumber?

the person who pays more than a million for a pigeon sized accomodation lease for 99 years?

or a person paying the same amount for a mansion with acres of land for the same amount with full ownership for generations to come?? :smile:
 

Whats4

Alfrescian
Loyal
Of course!!! How in the world can a DIPLOMA HOLDER run a business that's affliates to SIA & temasek? I though the minimum education is at least a LYK Scholar.

maybe he is related to somebody in anyway? :confused:
 

johnny333

Alfrescian (Inf)
Asset
Singapore got the most millionaires Ministers, MPs and Civil Servants in the world based on per sq foot of land.

Must give credit to LKY for setting up a system where PUBLIC MONEY is used to bribe people for their loyalty to the party. :rolleyes:
 
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