Daily Archives: February 1, 2016 (28 Articles Found)
Singapore firm unveils operational carbon-negative home
The B House, an operational carbon-negative home by Singapore-based sustainable design firm Pomeroy Studio, was recently awarded BCA’s Green Mark Platinum Award. This is the highest recognition for eco-friendly buildings in Singapore. The house reduces energy consumption by…
Lanes along PIE reopen following oil spill
Two lanes along PIE towards Changi after the Jurong Town Hall exit have reopened following an oil spill caused by a traffic accident between a tipper truck and an oil tanker on Mon afternoon. LTA sent out a…
Singapore property costs lower, but taxes can be a killer
The cost of buying, holding and selling a mass market private home in Singapore is significantly lower compared to that in London and Sydney, but tax costs are much higher, revealed Knight Frank’s first-ever Global Tax Report. The…
Singapore restaurant ‘hires’ robot waiters
A new seafood restaurant at East Coast Park is believed to be the first here to use robot waiters to serve food to customers. Rong Heng Seafood Restaurant, which opened last Mon, uses robots to meet some of…
5-room DBSS flat in Boon Keng sells for $855,000
A five-room flat at City View@Boon Keng under DBSS has been sold for $855,000 in Jan, reported Shin Min Daily. City View turns five in Feb 2016. Residents need to stay a minimum period of five years before…
Singapore as ‘innovation lab’ will have its place in the world: Heng
The key to Singapore staying relevant in the global economy is how it can be an innovation laboratory for the world, and this will be looked into in plans to chart the future direction of Singapore’s economy, said…
Developers eye bulk sales in weak market
Some developers caught out in the weak market are looking to bulk-sell their luxury projects to avoid hefty penalties. City Developments (CDL) is believed to have been marketing one of two towers at the as-yet-unlaunched Gramercy Park, while…
TDSR objectives gradually being met: MAS
The objectives of TDSR framework seem to have been met. According to MAS, less than 10 per cent of existing borrowers have a TDSR of above 60 per cent, and this is expected to decline over time as…
More facing problems refinancing homes due to TDSR
Home owners looking to refinance their properties are finding it increasingly difficult to do so against the backdrop of falling property prices, stringent definitions of what constitutes income and the tedious paperwork involved. Conservative property valuations also mean…
Singapore developers’ sentiment weakened further in Q4 2015: survey
Developers’ sentiment weakened further in Q4 2015, according to the results of the NUS-Redas RESI survey. The Current Sentiment Index fell to 3.6 from 3.7 in Q3 2015, while the Future Sentiment Index fell to 3.4 from 3.7…
Meet Singapore’s accidental property guru
Steve Melhuish knew practically nothing about the real estate market in Singapore when the condo he was renting was put up for sale in 2006. Now he dominates the industry. The British-born Melhuish and his wife had just…
Two lanes along PIE closed after oil spill
Two lanes on PIE, after the Jurong Town Hall Road exit and towards Changi, have been closed due to an oil spill caused by a traffic accident involving an oil tanker. The slip roads of Bukit Batok Rd…
Kranji Marshes open, guided tours to start soon
The 56.8-hectare Kranji Marshes wetlands, the largest freshwater marshland in Singapore was officially opened today and guided tours will start at the end of the month. Located next to Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, the marshland lies along the…
More than 900 displaced individuals, families identified between 2013-2015: MSF
MSF has identified more than 900 displaced individuals and families between 2013 and 2015. While East Coast Park is where many Singaporeans go to unwind after work, it is also a temporary home for a small group of…
Cyclist engagement better than imposing speed limits
While studying in Boston the past year, I stayed a 25-minute-walk away from school. While I initially chose to walk, I eventually got a bicycle. Many had good cycling habits: Riding within the bike lanes, signalling when they…
Fire breaks out on roof of factory building in Defu industrial estate; no one hurt
A fire broke out on the roof of a two-storey vacated factory in the Defu industrial estate on Mon afternoon. The chimney of the factory at 10 Defu Lane 7 had caught fire. Five workers who were dismantling…
Logging the Balestier story
Balestier used to be home to one of Singapore’s largest sawmill factories. Called Hiap Chuan Joo, it produced wooden crates used for beverages such as Coca-Cola and Tiger Beer. Its heyday was in the 1950s and 1960s, when…
More childcare centres set up at workplaces
For a growing number of parents, junior is only a stone’s throw away in a childcare centre near their workplace. Last year, there were 390 childcare centres at workplaces, which include those in commercial or government buildings, or…
More opting for pre-schools with outdoor emphasis
More parents have been sending their children to pre-schools that emphasise outdoor education so that they can play and learn in a natural environment. Such early exposure to safe outdoor conditions is essential for young children, according to…
Sheltered paths may encourage more cycling, walking
I applaud the Government’s efforts at trying to get people to cycle and walk more. Perhaps Singaporeans would take to these alternatives modes of transport more if more shelters could be built for cycling and pedestrian paths.
Make public toilets more elder-friendly
I support Mr Paul Chan Poh Hoi’s call to install more elder-friendly facilities in public toilets (“Install grab bars in public toilets”; Feb 1). Given the greying population in Singapore, elder-friendly amenities in public toilets in places such…
What’s the plan if vehicle breaks down on single-lane road?
I have noticed that one of the measures taken in Lengkok Bahru to ensure vehicles slow down is to have some roads be single-lane ones (“Silver alert: Getting around speeding traffic worry”; Jan 25). But what happens if…
Sustainable usage of road space
The provision of dedicated bus lanes on the planned North-South Expressway (a 21.5km partly-underground road linking Woodlands to the city) is another indication of the direction of change in land transport. Bus services use highways already, but having…
Install grab bars in public toilets
Recently, I joined a group of classmates, all of them over the age of 80 for lunch at Changi Airport T3. One of them badly needed to use the toilet, and so excused himself halfway through the meal.…
Policy-battered property assets still draw investors to Singapore
There’s no stopping institutional investors from snapping up Singapore properties despite the current weak occupier market, according to a report by CBRE. CBRE said the current market still presents windows of opportunities for buyers. As more purchasing activities…
Will Singapore properties stay overpriced in 2016?
Singapore is looking at a year of more lows in property prices, according to a report by BMI. BMI noted that the local real estate market is not as overvalued as in New Zealand, Australia, China, and Hong…
The bottom is finally in sight for Singapore’s private home market: CBRE
After nine consecutive quarters of price and sales declines, CBRE Research said that Singapore’s private property market might finally be heading for the trough. This is because unsold supply is finally running low while prices have reached an…
The curious case of shrinking homes in Singapore
In order to lure cost-sensitive buyers, property developers in Singapore have taken to building smaller residential units to keep home prices palatable. This chart from CBRE shows that median home sizes have dropped to just around 800 sqft…
Sign In to Bookmark This Story