Phuket, Phi Phi island

I made the second trip this year to Phuket and still much enjoy it. See photos of some beautiful scene...

The return airfare by Tiger Airways costs S$140 plus various taxes & surcharges of $146 -- nowadays the hidden "extra" for taxes & surcharges exceeds the airfare itself, especially when it comes to budget airlines and short-distance flights. Probably due to the peak season, it is more expensive than my previous trip in March, when the Jetstar airfare was only S$76 + taxes & surcharges $123.

I stayed with the same hotel, Patong Beach Lodge, at US$82 per night per room of 2 adults incl. breakfast. It was US$53 last time in March. The hotel is conveniently located in the short walking distance to Patong beach and to the main street for bars & massage houses. Though not as elegant as the near-by Holiday Inn, it is pretty clean, cosy and non-expensive...

Taxi fare from airport to Patong is standard, at 550 Baht per cab payable at a counter inside terminal; the driver does not take cash payment. Our driver drove very fast (probably... rude :) and took less than 45min dropping us at the hotel. He said he usually does as many as 7 round-trips a day in peak season.

The Phi Phi island day tour is at 1400 Baht, picking up at hotel lobby at 8am and back around 6pm. The ticket is available in many tour desks along the street, with list-price ranging from 2500 to 2800 Baht. It includes drinks & fruits on board, a buffet lunch and about 6 places / activities for sight-seeing, relaxing on beach and snorkeling, among them are Maya bay / beach, Phi Phi lay, Khai Nui Island... I'm also impressed by the tour guide who is friendly and caring and thanks everyone for coming back after the tsunami.

Among the two local beers, Chang and Singha, I prefer Chang beer as it is stronger and tastes like Carlsberg at some extends.

I can't remember the street name that is full of good bars and night activities, it faces the Fantasea at its east end and links the beach and the main commercial road (Raj-U-Thid Rd). It is the place that one shouldn't miss... Sitting in a bar by the street or walking along the street seeing people at the bars are both of fun and form an interesting scene for each other parties.

Christmas 2007

Merry Christmas!

See photos of X'mas@Singapore at my flickr... more photos are coming in the next a few days...

Linked-in

LinkedIn is a business-oriented networking site mainly used for professional networking. It had 16 million registered users over 150 industries in Nov 2007.

The main purpose is to allow registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know & trust in business. A contact network is built up consisting of their direct connections, each of their connections' connections (2nd degree connections) and 3rd degree connections. It can then be used to find jobs, people and business opportunities.

Web / application server

Web server refers to a computer or program that responds HTTP requests from a client (browser e.g. IE or Firefox). The HTTP response usually consists of HTML document (i.e. web page) and other raw file such as image. A commercial web server should include other features like HTTPS (allowing encrypted connection), logging, authentication / authorization etc. Wikipedia gives a comparison of web server software.

Application server is distinguished from web servers by the extensive use of server-side dynamic content & frequent integration with database engines. It handles the business logic & data access fo the application. The term refers to web-based applications such as e-commerce & content management system.

One particular and prominent example is the Sun Microsystems J2EE platform. J2EE includes Enterprise JavaBean (EJB) that implements business logic, Servlet for the request-response model, JavaServer Page (JSP) that puts servlet code into a text-based document, as well as Java Message Service (JMS) / Java Transaction (JTA) / JavaMail / Java Naming & Directory Interface (JNDI) etc. APIs. The Sun Java System Application Server Platform Edition 8 is a fully compliant implementation of the J2EE 1.4 platform. It includes two technologies -- JSP Standard Tag Library (JSTL) and JavaServer Faces -- and a list of tools, e.g. admin console & asadmin, a command-line AS admin utility.

Other well-known Java enterprise edition application servers are Tomcat (Apache), JBoss (Red Hat), WebLogic (BEA) etc. See also a wider list of application servers at Wikipedia, including non-Java based products e.g. .NET framework (Microsoft).

Started off as a servlet reference implementation by a software architect at Sun Microsystems, Tomcat implements the Servlet & JSP specifications and provides an environment for Java code to run in cooperation with a web server.

JBoss is another free software, open source Java-EE based AS. Version 4.0 is a J2EE 1.4 application server, with embedded Tomcat 5.5.

With .NET interoperability, WebLogic is a J2EE 5 platform. Bundled with product support, it is priced at $4,840 for online purchase.

Gizmo

Gizmo project uses the Internet connection to make free calls to anyone with a Gizmo account, just like the Skype does. Furthermore, it allows to call other voice networks for free with the one client: Yahoo Messenger, Windows Live, Google Talk and of course Gizmo project. It is also possible to chat with AIM & MSN buddies directly from Gizmo project.

With inexpensive Call-Out feature, user can call any normal phone (mobile or landline) at some 2 cents per min. With its Call-in option, at about $3 per month, user gets a phone number in over 50 US/UK cities that goes (roams) with him and lets people call him at local rates. Other features like file exchange, chat history, voicemail with customisable messages, Instant messaging (IM), conference calling and call recording are pretty useful too.

Except the chargeable Call-In add-on, the free Access Numbers (unfortunately they're all US/CA numbers) enable the user to receive call to his Gizmo account from the traditional phone system.

Unlike Skype, it always assigns a SIP number (looks like 1-747-XXX-XXXX) with your Gizmo identifier so you can make calls to and receive calls from over 100 VoIP networks all over the world, for free.

GizmoProject introduced 4.0 beta with video calling and a new look in Dec. Except free video calls, it allows Meta-IM to chat with AIM, Yahoo, Windows Live, GTalk, iChat and more. Chat logging and tabbing are also of interesting features.

Gizmo project is also available on Nokia & Treo handheld, called GizmoVoIP. It saves money making Internet calls with the WiFi phone. The GizmoVoIP plug-in is tested with N80, N96, E61i & E65. A special version for N800 is available.

Gizmo5 beta is recently released to generic mobile phone users. Note that calls are charged differently than with Gizmo project (it charges for the two legs of the call). For example, USD 3.8 cents per min. for calling China from Singapore, as compared to USD 1.8 cents with Gizmo project.

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking website that was launched in Feb 2004. The name refers to the paper facebooks depicting members of the campus community that some colleges & schools give to incoming students, faculty and staff as a way to get to know other people on campus. Initially the membership was restricted to college students but has been extended to anyone since Sept 2006. User can select to join one or more networks e.g. high school, place of employment or geographic region. It reached 55 million active members worldwide and 7th traffic ranking in Nov 2007. It is the number one site for photos in the US, ahead of public sites such as Flickr.

User with a valid email address can register a facebook account, for free. He may then join various networks (sometimes requiring to verify an email belonging to the network e.g. institution's email, or referrals from that network) and create his profile & photo album etc. I have registered an account using my gmail address and started to upload some of my personal photos, and accordingly invite all my friends here to login & be my facebook 'friends'. Let's keep in touch via facebook and have fun!

10,000 HDB flats release in 1/2 yr

HDB announced that some ten thousands HDB flats will be released in the next half a year, including the two BTO projects currently accepting applications -- Segar Meadows (412 units) & Compassvale Beacon (750 units), 4-rm flat priced at $180K - $233K. It will release another 6000 units if the demands keep strong.

Four privately developed DBSS (Design Build & Sell Scheme) projects for 1900 units will also be launched in the next 6 months.

There will be three EC projects in Yishun, Jurong West & SengKang next year, building 1300 units.

All together, it is expected to cool down the hot market. Resale index may be kept at the 3rd quarter level in short term but expected 3% ~ 5% down in 2 to 3 years time frame.

Good-value HDB

Based on COV (Cash-Over-Value), property agents pick out Queenstown, Marine Parade, Clementi & Bukit Merah as some towns where flats may be overpriced, many are old districts (aged 20 years or more).

Good buys can be found in more low-key towns surrounded by amenities, such as Woodlands, Jurong West, Choa Chu Kang and Pasir Ris.

Agents expect the climb of resale flat prices islandwise to slow over the next 12 months, after the heady rise in the 3rd quarter. The rentals of HDB flats, meanwhile, is still expected to grow over the next year, as more foreigners take up residence in Singapore and find private homes too expensive to live in.

---- abstracted from The Sunday Times Property Buying Guide.

Resale EC looking attractive

Resale executive condominium (EC) units are among the most undervalued mass market properties. Though similar to 99-yr leasehold condos in terms of quality, resellers price in a "too generous" discount for their flats. Today's newspaper reveals the following statistic data:

As the latest new EC on the market, La Casa in Woodlands achieves more than $550psf (24 sales in Oct. range from $498 to $601psf). While the resale price of nearby 7-year-old Northoaks and Woodvale only fetch some $420psf recently, though they've already climbed 35% since March.

Here are the site plans for La Casa and Northoaks, for reference.

One North

One-north zone comprises an area of about 200 hectares developed in 3 phases over the next 15-20 years. The Life Xchange (Biopolis), Central Xchange (Fusionpolis) and Vista Xchange in the first phase allow for the development of the dynamic core & platform.

Two condos in the science hub at Buona Vista were launched earlier this year, both are 99-yr leasehold projects.

One North Residence was launched in March & received excellent response, when 95% were sold out at $870-$1000psf even before public launch. Standing on an area of 170,738 s.f., the 405-unit project consist of 85 single-level & duplex SOHO-layout apartments for retail shops on the ground floor (SOHO refers to small-office, home-office). The condo will be developed by a joint venture between UOL Group, Low Keng Huat and privately-held Kheng Leong.

The 368-unit UE development The Rochester was launched more recently in July, at average $1300psf. It is right next door to the up-and-coming Rochester Park and is part of a mixed development that includes another block of 250 hotel rooms & 120 serviced apartments and a retail complex with about 100,000 sq ft of space.

Schroders unit trusts

The below table summaries all 35 unit trusts from Schroders' quarterly report. Looking backwards, I think only 5 funds highlighted in boldface are proven to be good-buy despite the market being bullish over the past several years. I would regret if I had bought any of the 18 funds in red.

Almost all funds charge up to 5% upfront and 1%~4% annually for various operational fees. The company that manages the funds surely makes handsome profit but the unitholders will have to depend on luck.

Schroders plc is a leading global, asset management company, with over 200 years of experience in the world's financial markets. In the year ended 31 December 2006 the company made a net profit of £221.9 million on net revenues of £967.2 million.

ECC Cryptography

Public key cryptography systems are usually based on the assumption that a particular mathematical operation is easy to do, but difficult to undo unless you know some particular secret that serves as the secret key. A recent development in this field is the so-called elliptic curve cryptography (ECC).

An elliptic curve with a underlying finite field Fp is a set of points on the curve with equation y^2 = x^3 + ax + b. The set of points on such a curve form an additive group where the basic function is addition. Two points P & Q are added up by drawing a line through both and taking as the outcome where the line intersects the curve. Certicom has a good online tutorial on ECC.

ECC relies upon the difficulty of the Elliptic Curve Discrete Logarithm Problem (ECDLP), the problem of finding k given points kG and G (remember that there is no division is defined on the group).

To use ECC all parties must agree on all the elements (p,a,b,G,n,h) defining the elliptic curve, that is domain parameters of the scheme:

• a & b define the curve (equation);
• p defines the finite field Fp in the prime case -- computations end by taking the remainder on division by p;
• G is the base point and defines the cyclic subgroup;
• order n represents the number of discrete points on the curve -- the smallest non-negative number such that nG=O;
• h is the cofactor and preferably h=1.

-------------------------------
Alice and Bob agree on an elliptic curve (domain parameters) and pick a certain point G on this curve. They can do this with Eve listening in. Alice next picks a random number As (not necessarily a point on the curve) and computes Ap = As*G. This is easy to compute.

Alice's public key is Ap and her secret key is As. Bob does the same thing and ends up with Bp and Bs.

Alice and Bob can now secretly agree on a key with which they can encrypt messages using secret key cryptography. The key simply is the product of Alice's public key and Bob's secret key (which is the same as the product of Alice's secret key and Bob's public key): As*Bp=As*Bs*G=Bs*Ap.

If Eve wanted to crack the key, she would have to reconstruct one of the secret keys. This means having to compute As given Ap and G (ECDLP), which is very difficult. If G is, say, 160 bits long, then Eve needs about 2^80 operations: If she can do a billion operations per second, this takes about 38 million years.
-------------------------------

As for other popular public key cryptosystems, no mathematical proof of difficulty has been published for ECC as of 2006. However, the U.S. National Security Agency has endorsed ECC technology by including it in its Suite B set of recommended algorithms. NIST recommends 15 elliptic curves in FIPS 186-2.

FEO condos

I think Far East Organization went crazy for its condo sales.

Gardenvista (99-yr LH) at the NW end of Bukit Timah Rd is selling at $1300+ psf, up from $680 about half a year ago. It has gotten TOP at the end 2006 but there are still unsold units. The showflat at #07-24 costs some $1.5m for the 1173 s.f. 3+S unit. The front area (within dotted line) by Dunearn Rd is the site of their another FH project, Jardin.

I heard that FEO is selling The Lakeshore near lakeside at $750-900psf, or some $100psf higher than the speculative units in the market. It consists of 848 units on 99-yr leased land, and was launched in 2003 at average $488psf. Some like its plenty of water/pool features & interior design, but some dislike its high density & multi-storey carpark.

Indeed, you will most likely find the first 3 large (half-page) property advertisements from FEO on every recent SundayTimes: the La Casa EC at Woodlands Ave.5, Hillview Regency at Bt. Batok East Ave.5 and The LakeShore. All have either completed (Hillview Regency completed in 2005) or been almost ready for TOP. Yet FEO still has significant amount of units on sale, with the ridiculously high price-tag.

I tend to think that one needs not waste time to view any FEO projects if he is sensitive to price. But I've to admit that they have sold several their overpriced units recently...

The Raintree

Nearby the newly launched Park Natura, The Raintree at Hindhede Dr. is another condo for those who love to stay with nature & rainforest, actually it is just by the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and even shares a boundary with the cyclist path to the reserve. Expected TOP in the mid 2008, the 99-yr leasehold 315-unit condo by Frasers Centrepoint has appreciated in value, from below $500 in the end 2006 to $750+ psf in the recent (oct.) subsales.

I'm only wondering whether there will be any issues with the inserts & flies, especially in the common area (e.g. pool side). Oh, I forget to mention that all units have no balconies, only planters (PES).

Flickr

Flickr is a photo sharing web service. In addition to being a popular web site for users to share personal photographs, the service is widely used by blogger as a photo repository. It is now part of Yahoo! and available in eight language flavors.

Flickr allows photo submitters to organize images using tags, which enables finding images concerning a certain topic such as place name or subject matter. It also allows to organize photos into sets, which represents a form of categorical metadata. Sets may be grouped into collections. Flickr provides both private and public image storage. Private images are visible by the uploader and optionally by friends and/or family. Many allow their photos to be viewed by anyone, forming a large collaborative database of categorized photos.

I created a Flickr account and started to upload my recent tour photos. Welcome to browse my photo gallery.

MediShield

CPF offers the basic MediShield for those who will attend B2/C ward classes. The more comprehensive coverage is available at 5 private insurers for those who will attend B1 or better ward.

• Incomeshield from NTUC Income
• Healthshield from AIA
• Supremehealth from Great Eastern Life
• PRUShield from Prudential
• MyShield from Aviva

All plans work similarly: a deductible amount (first $1000 - $3000 of the bill) per policy year and a co-insurance percentage (20% - 10% of the claimable amount above the deductible) will be borne by the patient itself (either by MediSave or by cash); the rest can be claimed back from the insurer, subject to yearly and lifetime limits.

With one of the plans, the hospitalisation bill is typically reduced to a few thousand dollars after claiming the medical insurance.

Rider may be available to cover the co-insurance and deductible (therefore the insured pays zero of his hospitalisation bill). For example, Incomeshield Plus Rider helps to pay off everything up to the plan limits, with additional premium of $52, $98 & $266 for the above three age groups.

Park Natura condo

Park Natura across from Bukit Botok Nature park was publicly launched last weekend. The free-hold 192-unit UIC development has gone well so far: priced at an average of $1000 psf, more than 100 units have been sold at the private soft launch.

The condo is featured on the hill top located at Upper Bukit Timah overlooking two nature reserves. It is of the last few still offering DPS -- besides the total 5%+5% upon signing the purchase agreement, the rest payment is deferred till Jan 2009. Typical 2-BR unit has slightly more than 1000 sq.ft. (i.e. quantum about $1m) and 3-BR some 1400 sq.ft.

WidSets

WidSets uses multi-applications called widgets to push updates of pre-selected web service directly to your phone. User can find news & information, stay in touch with email & blogs, play games, share pictures and more. He can keep his favorite web content with him in his phone memory and read news update, blogs or mails at his convenience, e.g. offline.

There are currently over 2700 widgets in the library to choose from, such as the BBC News, AccuWeather, eBay or Wikipedia. User can also easily create his own widgets in a few min. which works with the web feed.

A web feed is a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content. Content distributors syndicate a web feed, thereby allowing users to subscribe to it. Making a collection of web feeds accessible in one spot is known as aggregation, which is performed by an Internet aggregator. In the typical scenario of using web feeds, a content provider publishes a feed link on their site which end users can register with an aggregator program (also called a feed reader or a news reader) running on their own machines; doing this is usually as simple as dragging the link from the web browser to the aggregator. When instructed, the aggregator asks all the servers in its feed list if they have new content; if so, the aggregator either makes a note of the new content or downloads it. Aggregators can be scheduled to check for new content periodically.

To gamble or not to gamble?

A friend who's also financial service agent tried to convince me on two funds 4 months ago. I didn't commit and hesitated to wait for a 'low' entry point. Here is their performance over the past four months:

The Singapore Growth Fund performs so-so, with the offer-to-bid return ranging from -13.2% to the latest 2.1%.

However, the Regional China Fund performs too good to believe: achieving 41% offer-to-bid return over the past 4 months, though it had ever recorded -9.4% lost in mid Aug.

To gamble or not to gamble, that's a question...

Interest rates

Singapore Interbank Offered Rate (SIBOR) is a reference interest rate at which banks offer to lend unsecured funds to other banks in the Singapore wholesale money market. Set by the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS), SIBOR reflects the true cost of money in the interbank market; it is commonly used in the Asian region.

Prime (lending) rate is a reference interest rate used by banks. It originally indicates the rate at which banks lent to their most favoured customers. Some variable interest rates may be expressed as a percentage above or below prime rate. Movement of the prime rate usually reflects the changes of mortgage cost.

Perhaps in order to decrease transparency, major Singapore banks now use own names for the reference rate of their home loan products, e.g. DBS calls it Value Mortgage Rate (VMR) at 4% now, OCBC names it Value Rate currently at 4.5%, UOB calls it either HomePlus Rate or UOB Mortgage Rate both at 4.5%. Various home loan products are then expressed as a percentage below that rate.

The above chart is derived from Monetary Authority of Singapore data over the past 10 yrs.

In the yellow area or the first 5-6 yrs before 2002, both the prime lending rate and deposit rates are well dependent on the SIBOR, which I think is fair: banks offer competitive deposit rates close to their true cost of money in the interbank market; the 2~3% higher lending rate produces a reasonable profit though the profit margin became larger after the 1999 peak in rates.

Banks have changed the rule since 2002 (refer to the gray area). Despite the SIBOR had significantly risen to 3.5%, banks stick on offering the ridiculously low interest rate to their retail customers. Instead of making money only from their lending business, banks now target the deposit customers to claim profit. This is in line with the practice that banks started to charge on cheque books & low-balance accounts a few years ago.

Banks now do not offer competitive interest rate but create more sophisticated products to attract funds from retail market. Structured deposit has evolved from simple equity/bond-link interest rate to something complex enough to confuse most of their customers, which then can be designed in more favour to the banks. Actively selling investment products (e.g. unit trust) is another way of making more money (and probably commission too!); even the counter staff is eagle to convince customer with high-balance account to buy their more profitable products rather than to proceed with the deposit instruction.

The 'best' interest rate currently offered at various Singapore banks:

• Maybank iSAVvy for 6-m: effective 1.98% if >$25K, or 2.38% if >$50K
• Citibank MaxiSave Sweep: 1.88% (2.08% for >$50K) for 6-m unfixed deposit or 1.28% on withdral amount
• Standard Chartered e$aver: 1.20% p.a. (just dropped from previous 1.5% w.e.f. 1 Nov.) 1.70% for >$50K.
• UOB for 6-m time deposit: 0.6% if <$50K, otherwise 1.70%
• OCBC for 6-m time deposit: 0.575~0.6% if <$50K, otherwise 1.70%
• DBS for 6-m time deposit: 0.575% if <$50K, otherwise 1.70%

DPS scrapped

The government last night scrapped the deferred payment scheme (DPS) that allowed homebuyers to postpone payments on new property. Buyers now have to make progressive payments (PPS) in steps with the construction process and the 20% downpayment upon signing the Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) becomes mandatory.

It is a response to the overheating in the market, especially the excessive speculation. As an indicator for speculative activities, subsales -- owners selling uncompleted properties -- accounted for 12.7% of total deals (21.6% in the core central region), as compared to 28% in 1996. Overall prices rose 8.3% in the 3rd quarter that brings the price growth so far this year to 22.9%. I think it's good to cool the market at some extends so that its growth is more healthier and sustainable.

PPS: it calls on buyers to pay progressively at various stages of construction. Here is the typical scheme:

• 5% booking fee upon obtaining the Option to Purchase
• 20% (incl. 5% having been paid) downpayment upon excising the option & signing SPA
• 10% upon completion of the foundation work
• 10% upon completion of the reinforced concrete framework
• 5% upon completion of the brick walls of the unit
• 5% upon completion of the ceiling of the unit
• 5% upon door & window frames in position and completion of electrical wiring & plumbing
• 5% upon car park, roads & drains completed
• 25% on issuing the Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP)
• 15% on legal completion date

DPS: introduced in Oct 1997, it offers the homebuyers to postpone payment other than the initial 20% downpayment till TOP. The downpayment was further reduced to 10% in Nov 2001. It is believed to encourage speculative activities as a flipper only needs to fork out as little as 10% of the purchase price and has typical 2-4 yrs to find a new buyer of his speculating unit.

SQ flies luxury A380

The brand new A380 super-jumbo flew the first flight SQ380 from Singapore to Sydney on 25th. The Singapore Airlines A380 has a seating capacity of 471 in three classes -- SQ Suites, a class beyond first, together with Business and Economy.

399 Economy Class seats are with seat pitch 81.5cm (32") & seat width 48cm (19"), seat recline 115 degrees. They're also equiped with 27cm (10.6") inflight entertainment screen, USB port & AC power supply. According to newspaper, SQ380 is priced marginally more (<10%).

4-rm new flat at $400K

HDB launched Telok Blangah Tower under Oct. Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise today. It will be 400 studio, 3-rm & 4-rm flats located in Telok Blangah St.31 and a few hundreds meters south of Telok Blangah Hill Park. The price of $308,000 - $402,000 for a 4-rm unit surprises the public as that is even slightly higher than the resale market price in the region (HDB used to 'subsidise' first-timers on new flats). But HDB said that it's in demanded location and the unit selling at $400K is at 38th storey with sea / Sentosa views and with full-height windows.

Stronger SGD

Singapore dollar has been stronger vs. US dollar and RMB since Sept. Today S$1 exchanges 5.1356 Yuan, which is the highest in the past 5 years and 3.7% rise since Sept. It must be due to the weakening US dollar: U$1 exchanges S$1.46, which reflects as much as 20% weakened against SGD in the past 5 yrs (it was nearly 1.8 then).

With RMB interest rate at 3.87% (1-yr) and SGD interest rate remains low at merely 0.8%, it may be wise buying in RMB...

Rosewood at Woodlands

SLA puts on sale a piece of state land for developing private condo, which is of 172,223 sq.ft. with plot ratio 1.4, located in Woodlands ave.2 / Rosewood drive. Actually it is just by the side of Casablanca and opposite Singapore Sports School.

It is said on today's newspaper that the land may be used to build 110 units of 5-storey condo. Colliers, the marketing agent, estimate that the break-even price when built up will be around $500psf (incl. $260-300 land cost) so the developer likely prices it more than $600psf.

It expects to attract oversea buyers with children attending the American School and local upgraders in Woodlands & Sembawang towns. Savills said in Sept. that the properties in (far) north region might expect as much as 35% appreciation as the rental market there had risen 25-30% as compared to previous quarter.

Costs of property transaction

Here collects the various costs related to a property transaction incl. solicitor's charge, agent fee and stamp duty etc.

1. Solicitor's charge

A conveyancing lawyer is responsible for doing all the relevant searches on the title deed to ensure that the seller does not owe any debt and to check to see if there is a road reserve on the property which may affect the value of the property. If the buyer is taking out a bank loan or CPF, the lawyer also ensures that the relevant documents are ready. The lawyer's role ends when the title deed is handed over to the buyer. For uncompleted properties, it could take up to 3 yrs. Resale transactions, however, are usually completed within 3 or 4 months.

The Law Society of Singapore recommends the following fee guidelines for the solicitors' remuneration.

For non-CPF conveyancing transactions:

• Purchaser's solicitor: 0.3% of the purchase price subject to min. fee of $1800
• Mortgagor's solicitor: 0.15% of the total loan subject to min. fee of $900
• Mortgagee's solicitor: 0.3% of the total loan subject to min. fee of $1800
• Where the same solicitor acts for purchase, mortgagor & mortgagee: 0.4% of the purchase price subject to min. fee of $2500

For CPF conveyancing transactions (first application to CPF board for withdrawal):

• Up to $750K: chargeable by CPF solicitor $900 and by member's solicitor $450 if the solicitors are from different law firms; otherwise $500.
• Over $750K up to $1.5m: the above are $1250, $625 and $500 respectively.
• No further charge for member's revising the withdrawal sum where CPF moneys have not been released or within 6 months after such release

The solicitor usually charges disbursements that easily accounts 4-digit:

• Various searches (normally mandated by the bank offering the loan), sometimes range from $700 up to $1000
• stamp fee for the deed assignment (for the loan), $500+
• registration fees on transfer & caveat (normally 3 sets @ $64.45 for the bank, CPF and yourself), typically some $350
• photocopying, transport and other incidentals, depending on the individual solicitor, e.g. $100 ?

Note the bank offering mortgage usually subsidies the legal cost at some 0.4% of the loan amount, subject to fulfilling the min. period of loan facility (e.g. 3 yrs).

2. Agent fees

Institute of Estate Agents stipulates the professional fee / commission for agents / agencies based on standard services and upon successful transaction, but it does not interfere with any private arrangements:

• Sale of all types of properties except HDB resale flats: 2% of contracted price for vendor as sales commission and 1% of contracted price as finder's fee (if the agency is the appointed representative).
• Sale of HDB resale flats: 2% and 1% of contracted price for vendor as sales commission and purchaser as service fee
• An agency shall not accept commission from both the Vendor and Purchaser in the same transaction.
• Commission is due immediately upon completion of sale and purchase

It is the market practice that housing agent only charges the vendor 2% commission in case of condo or landed property sales, and charges both vendor and purchaser in case of HDB resale flat but the commission rate is often negotiable within the above guidelines.

Some agencies (e.g. ERA) provide extra services such as 6 months guarantee and bridge loan if both a client both buys and sells through the same agent.

HDB has over the years simplified and streamlined its resale procedures and made resale information more readily available to the public. It is not a requirement that resale HDB flat transactions must be facilitated by agents. However, HDB encourages to engage accredited SAEA members should one decide to use the agent's service: he will get priority over others with non SAEA-member agents when selecting the first appointment date.

3. Stamp duty

Stamp duty is a tax on commercial and legal documents which record and give effect to certain transactions. Since 28/02/1998, it is payable only on documents relating to immovable property, stocks and shares. These include a sale or mortgage or lease of immovable property.

Use the following conveyance formula (w.e.f. 29/02/1996) on purchase price round-up to the next nearest hundred dollars:

• 1% on the first $180,000
• 2% on the next $180,000
• 3% on the balance amount

or for simplicity, 3% of purchase price - $5,400 when it is more than $360K.

4. Property tax

Property tax payable per year is computed based on tax rate of the Annual Value of the property. For owner-occupied residential building, the property tax rate is 4%. For properties other than owner-occupied residential buildings, property tax rate is 10%.

Annual Value is the estimated yearly rent the property can fetch if it were rented out. The Chief Assessor will determine the AV of the property by analysing rents of comparable properties and relevant data. It is determined regardless of whether the property is let, wholly owner-occupied or vacant.

Legal fees

I always feel confused about how a lawsuit may cost and doubt that the legal protection (civil case) is out of reach for ordinary people. "The Sunday Times" today posts an article on the legal fees, which gives some insight.

• sealing a writ of summons for the commencement of an action costs from $100 at magistrate court (claim of up to $60K) to $1000 at supreme court (claim of more than $1m)
• filing a defence costs from $10 to $500 respectively
• For each hearing day after the first day (the 1st day at magistrate & district courts is free) or the first 3 days (the first 3 days at supreme court is free), it can cost from $250 to $9000.
• court of appeal hearing fees are $4000 to $6000.

Unless it drags too long, the above court fees seem still manageable, especially if the claimed amount is not big (e.g. < $250K so being heard at subordinate court).

However, the lawyer's fees are not cheap at all:

• Contested criminal case in the subordinate courts for 1-wk trial: $20K to $25K. (the simple uncontested case in which the client pleads guilty is charged at $2000).
• Contested divorce matter in the subordinate courts: $4000. (half if uncontested)
• one-week trial at high court: $80K

Lawyers in big firms charge by hour: a new lawyer bills up to $250 an hour while a partner asks double for equivalent work. Furthermore lawyers usually charge 'big' for disbursements -- fees for photocopying & filing documents and transportation and even lunches during a trial!

Photocopying costs very often form the bulk of the disbursements: the court had ever ruled in 2003 that lawyers' photocopying charges at a rate of 15 cents per page (the guideline since 1987 stating 30 cents). A lawyer claimed $259K for photocopying charges in the history!

In the recent case of primary school teacher Jonathan Lock against NTUC Income, the legal bill finally presented to him surprised the public: $125K comprising $80K worth of legal work billed by his own lawyer.

Unlike the situation in US where (I heard) more lawyers fight for getting lawsuit case so they may do cases without charge unless winning over, the profession here has a 'monopoly' when it came to pricing its services. This suggests that small players likely lose out to big boys as the latter can drain the energy and money out of the former by putting them through all the legal hoops to make their case.

Although the Law Society will handle civil cases for free under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme should the household income of the needed one fall below $2600, how many of us eligible for the legal help?

Nokia N80 firmware 5.0719.0.2

There is a new N80's firmware version V5.0719.0.2 available since May. Feedback on this most recent version has been positive at many forum boards. Many think it's a relief of their currently very buggy v4.0707.0.7 firmware and experience far more stable and slightly better performance -- mainly with photo galley. Some even commented that the photo quality & memory management are also improved. Someone posted the following informal change log:

Messaging -

• Correction for SMS receiving problems
• Correction for received SMS timestamps
• General stability improvements for Messaging application
• Fix for Freemail email download

WLAN -

• Correction for using WLAN wizard from Active Standby in encrypted networks. WLAN wizard help localisation corrections
• Correction for VoIP call when in edge of WLAN coverage

Diverses -

• Correction for USSD commands
• Fix for voice activated dialling and contact name playback
• Fixes for forwarding DRM protected content
• Fix for Multimedia key customization

It is still not yet available for my phoneset (model 0543906) at the online Nokia firmware update service; but I managed to upgrade it at the Nokia service centre. I have so far not experienced any problems so I consider that I'm lucky :)

However, I have not discovered any noticeable improvement either, except that the WLAN seems more stable now (WiFi always disconnects gracefully when a user application exits). The photo galley is not noticeably faster, though probably due to that I store large photos on the 1GB memory card instead of the phone memory. It can zoom-in to 50% that is probably enough for usual cases; but anything beyond that will cause insufficient memory alert.

After re-install the default smartphone software such as Quickoffice, Adobe, SettingWizard & Nokia Search to the memory card, I managed to get 38MB free phone memory (out of total 47MB shared with the system). However, I still can't run the web browser or Yahoo!go without its automatically killing off all other background applications even if it is tiny like Screenshot.

Besides, I've some additional minor complains:

• the warning tone is pretty loud
• After the display goes off, the screen remains light up for about 30 sec. before completely dark. This consumes unnecessary battery power.

Pulau Tioman

Tioman is off the east coast of Malaysia on the South China Sea. Having clear blue seas and white sands, it is ideal to spend 3 days there over a long weekend.

Driving from Causeway to Mersing ferry terminal takes no less than 2.5 hrs along highway No.3 heading south-east. Most of the 132Km journey is on a single-lane road so one can't drive fast as often beening blocked by slow-moving vehicles, especially at night. But the good thing is that it's toll-free all the way. When entering Mersing town, make a right turn at a round-about and you can't miss the ferry terminal. Monitored car park is available at only some RM7 per 24-hrs.

We took the Bluewater (Tel: 07-7994811) speed-ferry that is scheduled at 7am, 11am & 3pm in this non-peak season, at RM70 for a return ticket. However, the ferry is not punctural and likely delay due to tide (excuse?) and passenages (the real?). We experienced nearly a hour delay when heading to Tioman and as much as 2.5 hrs when coming back. It is always wise to call & check on the exact schedule & arrival of next ferry prior to going to the jetty.

Once starting off, it takes about 2 hrs to reach Tekek where most tourists stay. It's aircon'ed so the ferry riding is not too bad but one may need to prepare that it's very cold inside the cabin. Berjaya hotel is pretty good: we took the standard room at RM136 (weekday) / RM221 (weekend), excluding breakfast. It owns private beach area and golf, tennis etc. sport sites. Actually it is the only 5-star resort hotel offering chalets & rooms. It even operates a private daily air service between Seletar airport directly to the Berjaya beach, by 48-seater Dash 7 plane at about S$222++.

We purchased a round-island tour by speedboat at RM60 per head. It starts off at 9:30am and returns at 3:30pm, stopping in 6 places for snorkeling & beach activities. This is our main tour among the 3-day getaway (since we have to spend some 17 hrs on the two-way journey incl. waiting times).

What about the packing list? Well, sun block (>SPF100 for ladies) and mosquito repellent are important. Shorts, wet gears & a pair of slippers for the humid weather are necessary. We also pack with sun glasses, tiger balm (my favor :) and basic first aid kit. Toiletries and beach chairs & towels are easily available at the hotel. Oh, you may like to bring along some instant noodles for breakfast (they don't sell it there)...

Be alert when eating outside the hotel restaurant. I got minor food poisoned at Taman village during the day-tour, which had bothered me until we finally got home.

Execute Condominium

There have been 23 EC projects on the market since it was introduced (in 1996?). About half of them are more than 5 years old so their units may be seen in the resale market now.

Eligibility conditions to buy a new EC:

• A citizen with family uncleus comprising at least another SPR or citizen, at least 21 years old (or 35 years old under the Joint Singles Scheme)
• First-timer applicant, or second-timer who has not enjoyed other housing subsidy and has occupied his flat for at least 5 years
• Gross monthly household income not more than $10,000
• All listed occupiers must not own or dispose any other estate or interest within 30 months before the application
• First-timer may request the $30K CPF Housing Grant being used to pay for the remaining 10% downpayment

Eligibility conditions to buy a resale EC (from 6th to 10th year since TOP):

• Citizen or SPR above 21 years old but need NOT form a family uncleus as in the purchase of new EC. E.g. a single person above 21 can buy a resale EC.
• Buyers are NOT eligible for CPF Housing Grant but they need NOT pay the resale levy either if being owner of a flat directly from HDB
• Owners of direct-purchase HDB flats must have met the 5-year MOP

It surprised me that buyers of first-timer can not get the CPF Housing Grant for the resale EC. But it makes sense as the resale EC has to be treated as equivalent to "private housing" -- the remaining time before its 11th year when all restrictions will be lifted is usually less than 5 years to fulfill HDB's Mim. Occupation Period.

Policies for EC owners:

• must dispose any HDB flat within 6 months from TOP
• no longer qualify to buy a flat direct from HDB
• occupiers who are essential in the forming of a family nucleus will not be allowed for 5 years to make a separate applicaiton
• may sell the EC unit in the open market only after meeting the 5-year occupation period.
• It is not allowed to acquire a share in another residential property / HDB flat within the MOP.

Tracking of property index

I did some research that extends an existing residential property index diagram with more recent data. It shows the current index is the second highest following the historical peak 11 years ago.

Punggol 21+

The prime minister announced the 'Punggol 21+' plan on this year's national day speech, together with a few impression pictures to promise a beautiful new town to come.

HDB will start in 2 yrs to build a 5.5Km artificial water-way linking Rangoon River & Punggol River. The water-way will be 20-50m wide and 3-9m deep expected completion in 2013. Started some 10 yrs ago, Punggol 21 won't be completed in the next 5 years, reported by NewsAsia today.

HuanShan, China

Day 1: ShangHai. Jinjiang Inn By The North Band 锦江之星（北外滩）, walk-in rate RMB 199. Tel: 021-65867555

Located at the cross of 大连路 and 长阳路, the hotel is pretty good for leisure trip and can be booked via Ctrip (RMB189). It is in short walking distance to subway (line 4) station and about 3Km to city centre.
银树restaurant at NanJing Rd is our favor especially for its vegi-won-ton. We really love it that we did not eat there once but twice.

It takes less than 1.5 hrs by (fast) train from ShangHai to HangZhou at RMB 30~50+. Pay attention that there are more than one train stations. ShangHai South station is new and quite modern.

Day 2-4: HangZhou. Overseas Chinese Hotel 杭州华侨饭店, 湖滨路39号. Tel: 0571-87685555

The hotel is at some 10 meters by the West Lake and very convenient. We booked it with Ctrip at RMB 348 incl. breakfast.

Other than the West Lake and its nearby, I would recommend 六合塔, 林彪行宫 & 胡雪岩故居 if you like to spend more time in HangZhou. Visiting WuZhen 乌镇 takes a full day by long-distance bus (RMB50 for return bus ticket & RMB100 for entry) -- the so-called eastern Venice is actually a small old town surrounded by artificial water-way. The people there are very attempting to sell goods to everyone who passes by.

The long-distance bus from HangZhou West to HuangShan city takes about 3.5 hrs at RMB 78. The aircon'ed bus ride is not bad at all.

Day 5-6: HuangShan. Hua Shan Hotel 华山宾馆，黄山市屯溪去延安路3号. Tel: 0559-2328888. Pai Yun Lou Hotel 排云楼宾馆，黄山风景区西海-丹霞峰下. Tel: 0559-5581558

Hua Shan Hotel is right at the entry to Lao street 老街, the famous night market in TunXi district. Its rooms are clean & comfortable at RMB 350 incl. breakfast, but we didn't spend much time in it other than sleep :) Pai Yun Lou Hotel is on top of the mountain so we shouldn't complain about its lack of service after dark. All bar & restaurant are closed after 8pm but anyway people usually sleep very early -- tired and also prepare to start off at dawn for seeing sun rise. We booked the room via Ctrip at RMB 790.
HuangShan entry ticket is sold at RMB 200. The cable car is at RMB 65 per segment and transfer bus costs RMB 13 for each single ride. Tourist must use the bus service to get in but the cable car is optional (climbing up takes 5-6 hrs?). The food being sold up there is quite reasonable, I think. For example, cucumber at 5 Yuan each, a cup of Nescafe at 20 and a meal costs 230 Yuan for five of us.

Besides the HuangShan main tour, I personally think 花山谜窟 worth of us spending the 2 hrs. The ancient man-made grottoes are of some 200m depth & several ten thousands sq.m area but the mysteries lie in when and why they were made and how many undiscovered grottoes underneath -- no documents have been found so far.

Hong village is at some 70Km away from HuangShan (entry ticket at RMB 80). Despite its picture-alike scene, it is kind of live specimens of the ancient villagers. BTW, I learnt the villagers, usually old now, receive a percentage of the ticketing income collected from us tourists. This at least gives me some justification after being there :)

We had also visited the arches 牌坊群 and Bao's garden 鲍家花园 near TunXi. They don't seem very interesting to me but the bonsai may be worth of spending some time...

An over-night train took us from HuangShan directly back to ShangHai (21:48 - 10:44), at RMB 94 with bed to sleep on.