News Today

Picture-perfect smile
PHOTO: AP Visitors at a Beijing temple picking their favourite photo from a wall lined with smiling faces. Prizes will be awarded to the person in the winning picture and the photographer.... [Read more]

Drawing the crowds at SMRT station
Auspicious Chinese couplets and paintings were given away free to SMRT passengers and shoppers at the Raffles Xchange mini-mall yesterday by artists from the Life Art Society (LAS). In the past three years, the society's giveaways have been held at SMRT... [Read more]

Mahathir out of hospital
FORMER Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad was discharged from hospital yesterday after being treated overnight for flu, his aide said. Tun Dr Mahathir, 81, said he was feeling better, according to his aide Sufi Yusoff. Details of his medical treatment were... [Read more]

Pirated movie vendors go mobile to avoid crackdown
KUALA LUMPUR - AT A suburban hawker centre in Petaling Jaya, the fare on offer range from delicious bowls of laksa and pork noodles to the latest Jackie Chan or Ben Stiller blockbuster. A young man with spiky hair walks up... [Read more]

Envoys told to rebut Thaksin
BANGKOK - THE Thai government has asked its diplomats to counter the comments made by deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in interviews with international news organisations.In a number of interviews with newspapers, magazines and TV channels - the latest being an... [Read more]

An IRB satellite event for S'pore?
SINGAPORE is aiming to host an International Rugby Board (IRB) satellite tournament. It could take place later this year, and the Singapore Rugby Union (SRU) is hoping that the move can boost its bid to bring back the prestigious Rugby Sevens... [Read more]

Jakarta defends move to halt sharing of bird flu samples
JAKARTA - INDONESIA yesterday defended its decision to stop sharing bird flu samples with the World Health Organisation, saying it did not want the agency passing them to drug companies to develop vaccines the country could not afford. But Health Minister... [Read more]

CAO parent, BP delay asset injection
A PROPOSED injection of operating assets into jet fuel supplier China Aviation Oil (CAO) has been delayed by another six to nine months.China-based, Singapore-listed CAO said yesterday that its parent company China National Aviation Fuel Holding (CNAF) and oil giant BP... [Read more]

Pioneer residents want wet market
THREE supermarkets serve the 50,000 or so residents of Pioneer constituency in Jurong.But residents in the young estate, half of whom are between 20 and 45 years old, have a craving that harks back to the old days: for a wet... [Read more]

The campaign begins for Hillary and Obama
IT WAS inevitable, but it came sooner than anyone predicted. After Mr Barack Obama - the one-term senator from Illinois - more or less declared his candidature for the US presidential elections, two-term New York senator Hillary Clinton threw her hat... [Read more]

Letter bomb explodes in central London
LONDON - A LETTER bomb exploded in central London yesterday, injuring one woman and causing panic. The blast occurred at the London headquarters of the company that administers the British capital's traffic congestion toll, Capita. It is less than 180m from... [Read more]

Benchmark interest rate at lowest since end-2005

SINGAPORE'S benchmark interest rate has dipped sharply since the global stock-market upheaval last week, hitting its lowest level since December 2005.

The three-month Singapore interbank offered rate (Sibor) fell to a 15-month low of 3.1875 per cent yesterday - down about 5 per cent this month.

Sibor is the interest rate at which banks lend excess savings to one another. It influences the rates that consumers pay on loans such as mortgages.

However, mortgage borrowers who have seen their interest payments rise in the last two years may have to wait some time before their loan rates drop.

This is because there is usually a lag between Sibor and consumer loan rate movements.

Secondly, Sibor is not expected to plunge much further, predicted economists. Despite the sudden drop from around 3.37 per cent at the end of last month, the Sibor is still a long way off the rock-bottom levels of less than 1 per cent in 2004.

In 2005, it rose from under 2 per cent to above 3 per cent, in tandem with monetary tightening by the United States Federal Reserve. It has stayed above 3 per cent since December 2005.

Singapore's interest rates are determined by market forces, as the country's central bank controls monetary policy by managing the Singdollar's exchange rate.

It is unclear how last week's stock-market drama is related to the recent fall in Sibor, as the rate did not move much during the stock-market meltdown in May last year, said economists.

However, one possibility is that nervous investors are taking money out of stocks and keeping them in safer assets.

'One possibility is that there has been a flight to safety by investors,' said United Overseas Bank economist Alvin Liew.

'The sharp correction in the stock market may have caused money to flee to safe assets such as bonds, weighing down bond yields. That may translate into lower Sibor.'

Another possible reason is that negative data from the US has made the market more certain of not one, but two cuts in the Fed funds rate this year.

'The market has priced in a higher probability of two Fed rate cuts, when before the spate of bad news, they weren't even totally sure of one cut,' said Citigroup economist Chua Hak Bin.

The Sibor could fall to 3.1 per cent when the Fed cut finally materialises in the second half of the year, but would stay above 3 per cent this year, he said.

Mr Liew expects the Sibor to bounce back up to above 3.3 per cent soon and said it would be very unlikely to go back to 2005 levels again this year.

News Today

Lions to keep focus on match
BANGKOK - SECURITY may have been heightened. The Thai media may also have dubbed the Thailand-Singapore showdown as a grudge match. But, for the Lions at least, tomorrow's Asean Football Championship second-leg final will be treated just like any other game.... [Read more]

Students to get overseas exposure
IN AN effort to give students foreign exposure and broaden their horizons, Ngee Ann Polytechnic will offer a course in international business when the new academic year begins in April.Students can expect overseas internships, exchange programmes and study missions to emerging... [Read more]

Chicks are Us!
What it should have beenThe table of unit trust prices published in page H16 in the Money section yesterday was inaccurate. The correct version is published today.... [Read more]Long drive aheadThe lighted ceiling of the Zhongnan Mountain Tunnel is part of... [Read more]

Could a wedding break the Gandhi-Bachchan ice?
IF THE Gandhis are the dominant clan in Indian politics, there is little doubt who calls the shots in Mumbai, headquarters of the nation's film world: The Bachchans are the first family of glamour. The city pauses when Amitabh Bachchan, India's... [Read more]

US warns of investor flight if trade talks with Malaysia fail
KUALA LUMPUR - THE United States warned yesterday that failure of free trade talks with Malaysia would send a message that the two countries were 'not open for business', and said next week's round would be critical.Deputy US Trade Representative Karan... [Read more]

Even those 'over the hill' need chores to maintain their faculties
The writer of 'Senior citizens have a moral and social obligation to take care of themselves' (Online forum, Feb 6) cautions the elderly against over-reaching in case they 'incur pain through their own foolishness'.He quotes two examples: A 66-year-old man broke... [Read more]

Shell wins employer of choice prize at top HR awards
DO YOU wish you could work from home instead of trudging into the office or leaving it early to fetch your children from school? These are just the kind of work-life balance initiatives that are in place at Shell Eastern Petroleum,... [Read more]

Blowing hot and cold
WASHINGTON - UNITED States President George W. Bush and Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have sparred - albeit separately on American television - as both sought to defuse speculation about an impending military confrontation between the two countries. Mr Bush dismissed talk... [Read more]

Thai workers urged to keep cool over loss
THAILAND'S Labour Ministry has called on Thai workers in Singapore not to vent their unhappiness over the Republic's controversial 2-1 win over Thailand in the first leg of the Asean Championship football final. It said that doing so would not be... [Read more]

Govt can't force private sector to share costs
ALTHOUGH the Government is bearing part of the recent increase in the cost of sand for its ongoing projects, it cannot ensure this is the case for every private sector dealing as well. Neither can it fix the price of ready-mix... [Read more]

Pension fund scam involved 20 top names
SHANGHAI - AT LEAST 20 officials and businessmen were involved in Shanghai's pension fund scandal, the government said yesterday, giving its fullest account yet of the scandal that rocked the city last year. Eleven party officials and more than 10 others... [Read more]

Directors' Trades

LEE KIM TAH DIRECTORS RAISE DEEMED STAKES

THE controlling shareholder of Lee Kim Tah Holdings, a firm linked to executive chairman Lee Soon Teck, has been buying shares in the construction firm on a daily basis since the start of the month.

Mr Lee has been buying company shares on and off through Lee Kim Tah Investments for the past two years.

This entity has boosted its stake in the company from 62.03 per cent towards the end of last month to 62.4 per cent on Tuesday, a check with shareinvestor.com showed.

The investment firm is linked to Mr Lee and executive director Edwin Lee Yong Chuan, whose deemed stakes in Lee Kim Tah have now risen.

Since last week, about 1.8 million shares have been bought at prices ranging from an estimated 50.5 cents to 53 cents.

The purchases would have cost the investment vehicle around $900,000.

Lee Kim Tah shares reached a high on Jan 8 of 62.5 cents. Since then it has declined.

But despite the market correction last week, the counter has remained steady. Yesterday, Lee Kim Tah shares ended unchanged at 52.5 cents.

This could be due to full-year profits which were announced on Feb 27 being positive, showing that the bottom line had more than doubled from $4.7 million to $9.9 million.

Lee Kim Tah also announced a first and final dividend of one cent less tax per share, and a special dividend of 2.13 cents less tax per share, to utilise the Section 44 tax credits which will expire on Dec 31.

LEE SU SHYAN

Arsenal and Chelsea reserves in fracas

JUST eight days after the brawl in the League Cup final came the ruckus at London's Recreation Ground.

The reserve teams of Arsenal and Chelsea were involved in a brief but ugly fracas on Monday.

The confrontation took place in the second half. Most of the players pushed and shoved in the Arsenal penalty area after Gunners goalkeeper Mart Poom dropped a ball, reported The Telegraph.

No player was sent off, but there were three cautions.

The match ended 0-0.

News Today

$15, 220 missing from charity's bank account
THE new management team at troubled charity Youth Challenge has discovered that $15,220 is missing from its bank account.The money was withdrawn though an unauthorised online transaction on Jan 15.It is believed to be for staff salaries, including that of its... [Read more]

Go for these in future Budgets...
IT IS truly a 'Wow Budget 2007' as it sets a new direction for the future. It shows the Government has listened and taken concrete steps to address concerns over the widening income gap and rising cost of living affecting the... [Read more]

China's brain drain is the world's most severe
BEIJING - CHINA suffers the most severe brain drain of any country, raising fears that there may not be enough talents around to manage the world's fourth-largest economy, state media said yesterday. Out of about one million Chinese who have studied... [Read more]

Taipei to drop 'China' from names of firms
TAIPEI - TAIWAN'S ruling party has passed a resolution calling for the elimination of the word 'China' from the names of state-run companies that were founded in the days when the island's government claimed sovereignty over its giant neighbour.It is a... [Read more]

Rice faces Israeli anxieties in her push for talks on Palestinian state
WASHINGTON - THE Bush administration's Middle East peace initiative takes place at the weekend amid uncertainty because of Israeli anxieties over the complexion of a proposed Palestinian unity government.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will lead the push to bring together the... [Read more]

Couple get back baby held over unpaid bills
JAKARTA - THE impoverished parents of a baby held by an Indonesian clinic for three weeks because they could not pay the bill for her birth have been reunited with their daughter, a welfare official said yesterday. The clinic was forced... [Read more]

Beijing slams Chen's name-change move
BEIJING - BEIJING condemned Taiwan's President yesterday for dropping 'China' from the names of state-run firms and introducing 'distorted' history books, saying the moves were aimed at severing links with the mainland.But President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan told reporters yesterday that... [Read more]

NKF suit ends as Yong, Loo drop third-party claims
IT TOOK just under five weeks instead of the expected eight, but the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) suit came to a close yesterday. The development that brought the curtains down: Former NKF chairman Richard Yong and former treasurer Loo Say San's... [Read more]

High-tech labs at polys, with help of tech giants
TWO polytechnics now have training labs with state-of-the-art equipment, supplied by leading multinational corporations, that can support interactive and digital media (IDM).Students and professionals will benefit from the polytechnics' courses in IDM using the advanced equipment.Nanyang Polytechnic's NYP-IBM Cell Broadband Engine... [Read more]

News? Simi lancheow! Go Fuck yourself!
India to review policy on SEZ projectsNEW DELHI - INDIA is reviewing its policy on special economic zones as opposition to them grows.A panel of senior ministers will examine all new plans for the zones, which are intended to attract billions... [Read more]

Friendlier inter-Korea relations on the cards
SEOUL - INTER-Korea ties may turn sunny again after Pyongyang agreed to halt its nuclear programme in return for aid and diplomatic benefits. A day after securing the six-party nuclear deal, the two Koreas announced yesterday that they would resume stalled... [Read more]

News Today

Bouquets
FREE TICKETS TO A GREAT MATCHMY BOYFRIEND and I would like to thank a middle-aged couple who offered us their extra set of grandstand tickets to the Singapore-Malaysia football match at the National Stadium on Saturday.The kind couple gave us the... [Read more]

Bellamy a 'scapegoat' for Liverpool's training-trip fracas
LIVERPOOL - CRAIG Bellamy has been made a scapegoat for Liverpool's training-camp ruckus in Portugal. Sources within the club suggest the 27-year-old Welsh international's bad-boy reputation was exploited to deflect blame from a large number of players involved in breaches of... [Read more]

Call-centre deal done improperly?
THE deal the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) had with Protonweb Solutions to run a call centre was a 'good deal', even though it was sealed without a 'proper' tender exercise. Cross-examined for the third day, former NKF finance manager Raghavan Gopinath... [Read more]

Where not to park a bicycle
PHOTO: ERIC CHOO/STOMP Mr Eric C. saw this bike hanging precariously from a block near his home in Jalan Bukit Merah. The 28-year-old assistant engineer was shocked at the danger it posed and sent a picture to Stomp, The Straits Times'... [Read more]

'Screams, but they couldn't get out'
DEWANA (INDIA) - THE fire was raging when the train roared into the tiny Dewana station, flames spurting from two cars filled with terrified, screaming passengers. 'I saw flames leaping out of the windows,' said Mr Vinod Kumar Gupta, the assistant... [Read more]

High-tech labs at polys, with help of tech giants
TWO polytechnics now have training labs with state-of-the-art equipment, supplied by leading multinational corporations, that can support interactive and digital media (IDM).Students and professionals will benefit from the polytechnics' courses in IDM using the advanced equipment.Nanyang Polytechnic's NYP-IBM Cell Broadband Engine... [Read more]

'We're gangsters. Both are gangsters'
IN A testimony peppered with glimpses of underworld dealings, accused gunman Tan Chor Jin yesterday gave his side of the story in the fatal shooting of his long-time friend, nightclub boss Lim Hock Soon. Tan, dubbed the 'One-eyed Dragon', told of... [Read more]

Why no new $10 polymer notes?
AFTER queuing for almost an hour at a POSB branch for its $500 Prosperity Pack, I was surprised to find that the new $10 notes were not of the polymer type, and the serial numbers were not in sequence. Has the... [Read more]

Thai Premier hits out at junta leader
BANGKOK - THAILAND'S army-installed Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont yesterday accused the junta leader of not doing enough to curb a separatist insurgency in the Muslim-majority south. General Sonthi Boonyarataglin, who heads the junta and Thailand's main security organisation, had failed to... [Read more]

ComCare has spent $68m to help 90,000 individuals, families
EIGHTEEN months after ComCare was launched to fund social assistance programmes, the scheme has delivered on its promise to deliver faster and better help to Singaporeans in need, an official report declared yesterday.So far, 90,000 individuals and families have benefited through... [Read more]

Disappointment after disappointment over CPF money
I called the Central Provident Fund on Jan 26 to enquire on my father's withdrawal of the balance from his retirement account. The operator checked his account and confirmed that he qualified for the withdrawal. She also informed us that if... [Read more]