Economist.com Cities Guide: Singapore Briefing - March 2006

News this month

Bring it on

Singapore’s leaders have yet to set a date, but it seems that an election is imminent. Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore’s prime minister and head of the long-ruling People’s Action Party (PAP), said on March 4th that he welcomes the opposition to contest all of the 84 elected parliamentary seats, something that has not been tried in over a decade. He said such a sweeping challenge would enable his party to “test the strength of the voters’ support for the PAP.” But it does not look like Mr Lee will get his wish: the opposition has declared its intention to run for only 57 seats so far.

Analysts expect the PAP, which holds 82 seats, to win the poll with ease. The party has never lost more than four seats in an election. The poll will be Mr Lee’s first since he replaced Goh Chok Tong as prime minister in 2004. He does not have to call elections until mid-2007, but seems keen to hold a poll before then—hardly surprising, given the PAP's firm grip on the government. Economic growth has been strong, and in February Mr Lee, who is also finance minister, announced an annual budget that includes S$2.6 billion ($1.6 billion) in cash handouts.

Cleaning up an oil spill

A year and a half after China Aviation Oil (CAO), a mainland oil importer, triggered Singapore’s worst financial scandal in a decade, the city-state’s courts are still cleaning up the legal mess. CAO, which is listed on the local exchange, teetered on the brink of collapse in late 2004 after belatedly disclosing losses of $550m, which it had incurred trading oil futures. The company's near-failure prompted probes by both the police and stock-exchange officials.

On March 2nd three directors at the group, including Jia Changbin, the chairman, were handed fines of up to S$250,000 for insider trading and failing to disclose losses. The week before, CAO’s former finance boss, Peter Lim, was sentenced to two years in jail for releasing false financial statements. The company’s former chief executive, Chen Jiulin, pled guilty to an array of charges in late March, but has yet to be sentenced. While CAO executives are headed for the clink, CAO itself is recuperating nicely. The company has been rehabilitated with fresh cash from Temasek, a Singapore government agency, and BP, an energy group. Trade in its shares is expected to resume within weeks, pending approval from Singapore's High Court.

No rest

Most workers enjoy days off protected by legislation. But not the thousands of foreign maids who toil in the city-state, a Singapore minister announced on March 8th. Hawazi Daipi, a senior parliamentary secretary at the manpower ministry, explained that such a law would inconvenience families with special needs.

This is the latest salvo in a long-running row between the government and maids’ human-rights advocates. Defenders of domestic servants have been pressing Singapore to cover them with the Employment Act, a statute that includes a right to time off. For now, maids will be governed by the law regulating work permits, which states they are entitled to “adequate rest” but does not define the term. While some Singapore families already allow their foreign helpers a day off, many do not, a situation that is now unlikely to change in the near future.

Walk this way

Singapore authorities are hoping that a dramatic facelift of the city's downtown will lure more tourists and businesses to the area. On March 6th Mah Bow Tan, the minister for national development, announced a new phase in the redevelopment: a new S$68m bridge to span Marina Bay. The 280-metre steel-and-glass structure—shaped like a double helix—will connect a cluster of hotels, offices and the national arts centre on the north bank with a yet-to-be-built casino complex on the south bank. The bridge should be ready by 2009, a year before the casino opens its doors.

Other blueprints for the area include dozens of hectares of gardens, an observation wheel modelled on the successful London Eye and a swathe of high-quality office buildings.

China bound

Singapore’s feisty budget airlines continue to spread their wings as customers line up for no-frills flying. Among the most aggressive is Tiger Airways, a low-cost carrier part-owned by Singapore Airlines, which has announced a trio of new services to mainland China.

Tiger will start serving the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen from April 15th; by the end of April it will have added flights to Guangzhou, the capital of the south-eastern Guangdong province. Tiger will also provide new service to Haikou, the main city on China’s southern resort island of Hainan. Ticket sales have begun and fares start at S$50 one-way, not including airport taxes. “Flying between China and Singapore will become truly affordable,” crowed Tony Davis, Tiger’s chief executive.

Catch if you can

March 2006

Hua Song Museum

From March 2006

Singapore’s modern history is largely the story of the Chinese who came here to seek their fortune. Three out of four locals is of Chinese ethnicity.

So it is appropriate that Singapore should be the site of a new museum that traces Chinese migration to countries around the world. Named Hua Song, which translates as “in praise of the Chinese”, the museum opened the doors to its eight exhibition halls on March 11th. “It is a museum for people from all over the world to understand the influence of the Chinese diaspora on modern society”, explained Pamelia Lee, the museum’s project director. Hua Song is expected to draw some 100,000 visitors a year.

Hua Song, Haw Par Villa, 262 Pasir Panjang Rd, Singapore 118628. Open: Tues-Sun noon-7pm. Entrance: S$8.40. Visit the museum’s website for more information.

More from the Singapore cultural calendar