I wonder is that the reason why our sg's gdp and inflation are so high in recent years?

Sunday, May 11, 2014
Jonathan Pearlman
The Straits Times

Australia, ramping up efforts to combat tax havens, has released for the first time information showing where companies shift revenues - and Singapore is at the top of the list.

Analysts said the list published by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) last week appeared to be part of a "scare campaign" to stop multinationals from shifting profits to countries with lower tax rates.

The list showed that of about A$130 billion (S$152 billion) that left the country, almost A$40 billion went to Singapore. This was followed by Japan and Britain with A$14.8 billion each, the United States (A$11.8 billion), Germany (A$7.6 billion) and Ireland (A$7.5 billion).

The ATO told The Straits Times that the data was "not a complete, all-inclusive figure" but was based on information from companies which reported the top three nations to which they shifted funds.

"It is important to note that havens can be transit points in a transaction and are not always where the money ultimately lands," it added.

Asked about the figures, a spokesman for the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) told The Straits Times yesterday that it was unable to comment on their accuracy.

The ATO spokesman said Australia began to ask for more information from companies and international agencies on the use of tax havens in the past two years, resulting in the collection of an extra A$450 million.

Dr John McLaren, an expert on international tax havens from the University of Wollongong, said the tax data did not indicate companies were acting illegally but was part of efforts to publicly pressure them over minimisation strategies.

"I think it is a scare campaign - just to scare people and to be seen to be doing something and tracking the tax flows," he said.

The release of the data was followed this week by Australian federal tax commissioner Chris Jordan's warning that the government was losing more than A$1 billion a year due to international tax minimisation strategies.

Australia is heading the Group of 20 (G-20) major economies this year and has signalled that one of its top priorities will be addressing international tax havens and weaknesses in the way multinationals are taxed.

During a G-20 meeting in Sydney in February, Australia's Treasurer Joe Hockey called for a "global response". "Some multinational companies aren't paying their fair share of tax anywhere," he said.

Google has come under particular attack in Australia, where its tax bill last year came to about 15 per cent of its profits of A$46.5 million, with the company billing customers in Singapore to reduce taxes. Singapore's corporate tax rate is 17 per cent, compared with 30 per cent in Australia.

The tax office said Australia, along with the G-20 and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, was pushing for automatic exchange of taxpayer financial account information between countries.

The release of the data comes as Singapore this week agreed to give the United States data on certain Singapore bank accounts held by US persons to help the authorities there combat tax evasion.

The Iras spokesman said there is no basis to allege that Singapore is a tax haven.

"Singapore is a responsible jurisdiction with a strong rule of law and our vibrant economy is built on the real and substantive manufacturing and service sectors. By maintaining a fiscally prudent regime, we are able to keep our tax rates competitive while raising sufficient tax revenues to fund our public expenditures," Iras added.

Dr McLaren said he believed a lot of the funds shifted by Australian companies to Singapore was to "captive insurance" companies, or subsidiaries set up to insure the parent.

He said the parent companies can reduce their tax burden by having the insurance arm based in Singapore, which has lower tax rates.

The data also showed that Singapore was the second-biggest source of offshore capital inflow to Australia. Of about A$103 billion received by Australian firms in 2012, A$35.6 billion came from Switzerland, A$12.3 billion from Singapore and about A$10.3 billion each came from the US and Britain.

The ATO told The Straits Times that it released the data because "2011-12 was the first financial year that this information was collected".

Mr Mark Zirnsak, from the Tax Justice Network, said Australia needs to crack down more aggressively on "tax dodging", particularly by ensuring greater transparency and reporting by companies.

He said that "progress was being made" and bodies such as the G-20 should continue to push for greater sharing of information.

"Singapore is one of the places that Australian companies have used for that purpose," he said. "Some of it is legitimate - the question is what part is legal tax dodging, or not."

Dr McLaren, however, said it was all but impossible to prevent multinational companies from legally minimising tax.

He said Australia should focus instead on taxes that are harder to avoid, such as wealth taxes and land taxes.

"You have Joe Hockey in the G-20 making lots of noise but there is no way you can ever stop multinationals reducing their taxes," he said.


This article was published on May 9 in The Straits Times.

Just rent and save

Many people are renting and sharing items such as toys and cars instead of buying them
Published on May 4, 2014 12:16 AM


Mr Jason Lim and Ms Cindy Tan have been renting toys for their children Kylie, two, and two-month-old Jonas. All the toys in the photo are rented. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO

Mr Jason Lim and Ms Cindy Tan have been renting toys for their children Kylie, two, and two-month-old Jonas. All the toys in the photo are rented. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO

Mr Jason Lim and Ms Cindy Tan have been renting toys for their children Kylie, two, and two-month-old Jonas. All the toys in the photo are rented. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO
Mr Chiyyarath Chandran Sajeevkumar (in car) rents the car during some weekends from Mr Anthony Toh and his wife Jean Ling, seen here with their daughter Reyko Toh. -- ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
Ms Thng Wen You wants to give away a digital camera and a clothes steamer. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE


By Benson Ang

Why buy? These days, consumers are renting and sharing items instead.

From household tools to cars, toys to maternity clothes, chances are someone out there is willing to rent, or even give away, the item you need.

Owners say they want to get rid of pre-loved items or make some cash from them, and there are plenty of takers who want to save money.

Of course, it reduces wastage and helps save the environment too.

This "sharing economy" is said to have started in the mid-2000s and Airbnb, an online accommodation rental service, is a prime success story.

The Economist reported last year that more than 4 million people have used Airbnb since its launch in 2008.

The service sees home owners renting out their spare rooms or homes for a fee that is often considerably less than the cost of a hotel stay.

In Singapore, at least four new platforms that facilitate the sharing and renting of items have started in recent years. For example, Leendy is a mobile app that helps users exchange items with one another. It was launched in May last year with 100 users. The figure has since grown to about 1,500 people, who trade items such as books and computer games.

Its creator, Mr Ryan Tan, 27, says: "I wanted to give unused things around the house a second life. For instance, a person uses an electric drill for only about 15 minutes in his lifetime, so why not share it with others?"

Rent Tycoons, an online portal that lets people rent their items, has seen its number of users grow from 10 in 2012 to more than 2,500 now.

Ms Fenni Wang, 28, its co-founder, says: "Many of our owners have rented out their items so often that they've covered the cost of these items."

iCarsclub, a peer-to-peer car sharing scheme, started in December 2012. It has a pool of 250 active car owners who have registered their vehicles for rental.

One owner, Ms Jean Ling, 37, has been putting her nine-year-old Mitsubishi Lancer up for rent on weekends since last December. The project administrator in a bank makes $100 to $400 a month in rental fees.

She says: "My husband has another car which we use on weekends. Instead of leaving this car unused, we thought why not rent it out and make some money?"

Her only complaint so far is that some people dirty her car, leaving footprints and popcorn on the seats.

"But I also get nice text messages from some saying I have a 'good car'," she adds. "These always make my day."

Mr Chiyyarath Chandran Sajeevkumar, 43, an enterprise architect who does not own a car, has rented Ms Ling's car twice - in March and last month.

He uses it to drive his 10-year-old daughter to school for her co-curricular activities and to go grocery shopping in Little India. He pays up to $80each time for renting the car for a full day.

"Some vegetables are sold only in Little India and I need a way to transport them home," says the father of two, who lives in Sengkang. "Cabs are expensive and you can never get one when you need it. Renting a car makes sense since I don't need it on weekdays."

Ms Cindy Tan, 33, has been renting toys from toy rental store Singapore Toy Rental for the last 11/2 years.

The assistant marketing manager, who has a two-year-old daughter Kylie and a two-month-old son Jonas, says: "Our four-room flat is only 90 sq m. We don't want to have toys lying around after our kids grow up."

Her husband, businessman Jason Lim, 33, adds: "You'd be surprised how quickly kids get bored and dump their toys. When this happens, we just rent a new one."

Renting toys saves them money too. The Scramble N Slide Play Center by Grow'n up, which the family has rented since March for $68 a month, would have cost $299.95.

The play set features a slide, swing and crawling spaces.

"As we rent each toy for at most two months, it's cheaper than buying," Ms Tan says. She spends about $130 on toy rentals each month.

Hygiene is not an issue, she adds, as all the toys are disinfected by the store before they are delivered.

"I'll just avoid renting items with cushions as bacteria can grow easily in fabrics."

If you are lucky, you might even meet kind souls who will happily give you their used items.

Ms Thng Wen You, 27, a senior executive at a local university, is looking to give away a Vivitar digital camera and a clothes steamer which she bought a few years ago for $230 and $129 respectively.

She offered the items last week on the Singapore Freecycle Network, an online group hosted on Yahoo! Groups. So far, no one has asked to collect the items.

Ms Thng, who has also given away clothes, books and a chair, says: "I do not need the items anymore but they are still in good condition. It'd be a pity to throw them away.

"It's also nice to know that someone out there will benefit from items which I no longer have use for."

bang@sph.com.sg

SWOP OR RENT

Have an item to spare? Some groups here can help you swop or circulate it

1. Rent Tycoons (www.renttycoons.com)

Launched officially in January last year, this portal lets users list their items for rent.

The most popular items include electronic gadgets, household appliances and tools and equipment.

The rental fees are stated on the portal and range from 50 cents a day for a book to $500 a day for a Classic Volkswagen Beetle.

The party who wants to rent the items pays Rent Tycoons, which then pays the owner and takes a 10 per cent cut of the rental fee. About 20 items are rented out each month. Some recent examples include an Xbox 360 ($15 a day) and vacuum cleaner ($25 a day).

2. Leendy (available free on iOS)

This mobile app, launched in May last year, has a community of almost 1,500 people who list items they want to exchange. Users post items they do not need and swop these for something owned by another user. After a few weeks, they switch the items back or the swop can be made permanent.

Some of the items listed for exchange include watches, laptops and books.

3. YouSwop (www.youswop.com)

This home-grown website, which was set up in 2007, lets people swop items using an internal currency called YouSwop Dollars (YS$).

Users earn YS$ by "swop selling" their items or inviting friends to sign up with the website. YS$ can then be used to "swop buy" items from other users.

It has more than 18,000 members, who have offered items such as clothes priced at YS$29.

4. Singapore Freecycle Network (groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/SgFreecycle/info)

An online group hosted on Yahoo! Groups since 2003, this network has more than 13,000 members.

All items are free and cannot be sold or exchanged.

What to rent an item? Try these groups or stores:

1. iCarsclub (www.icarsclub.com)

The service, launched in December 2012, has a pool of 250 active car owners who have registered their vehicles for rental.

It also has an approved group of people who rent these cars and can unlock them via a smartphone app. Those looking to rent can also locate available cars nearest to them.

Different cars fetch different rates. A Hyundai, for example, costs $4 an hour or $30 a day to rent and a BMW can be rented for $25 an hour or $200 a day.

2. LifeCycle (tel: 6289-0176, 986 Upper Serangoon Road)

This bicycle shop started a bicycle- sharing system in January, partnering two cafes - Cafe Loysel's Toy in Kampong Bugis and Chye Seng Huat Hardware in Jalan Besar.

Eight of LifeCycle's bicycles are available for rental at $7 an hour. The bikes can be dropped off at the shop or at either cafe.

3. Maternity Exchange (tel: 6100-3924, 6 Raffles Boulevard, Marina Square, 03-108)

The multi-label maternity and nursing wear boutique, which was set up in 2005, allows mums-to-be to rent individual pieces of maternity wear for four weeks each time.

There is also a range of rental packages, which are priced from $179 for four pieces to $659 for 20 pieces.

Customers may buy the clothes.

4. Singapore Toy Rental (tel: 6555-1849, Block 540 Serangoon North Avenue 4 B1-109, no walk-ins, by appointment only)

This toy rental store, which opened in 2011, has about 100 toys that it rents out for at least a month. The items include walkers, playhouses, infant and educational toys. A Schoenhut toy piano, for example, can be rented for $78 a month and a Little Tikes Rocking Horse goes for $18 a month.

saw this 'unusual' news from yahoo..sensitive topic be careful

Singapore, May 2 (IANS) Many online home rental websites in Singapore include the words "No Indians, no People's Republic of China (PRC)", which is sometimes followed by the word "sorry", leading to increasing rental discrimination in the city.

The issue appears more common with less expensive properties and on sites where content is posted directly by users, the Online Citizen reported.

The president of the Universal Society of Hinduism (USH), Rajan Zed, has called on Singapore's President Tony Tan and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to put an end to the discrimination, which is becoming a rising menace.
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/no-houses-rent...09878.html


The emergence of anti-foreigner sentiments in Singapore has become a major cause of concern, with the government constantly urging the Singaporeans to welcome expatriates and to help them integrate into the city-state's multi-cultural society.

One Indian expatriate said his agent told him that many landlords would refuse to rent flats to him because "Indians always cook smelly curries", BBC reported.

Charlene, an estate agent, said it was common for landlords not to rent houses to tenants from India or China because such tenants "are not people who are house proud".

"Many don't clean weekly, and they do heavy cooking, so dust and oil collect over the months. They may use a lot of spices that release smells people don't like," Charlene added.

Singapore is one of the ethnically most diverse nations, consisting mainly of Chinese-origin people along with Malay, Indian and other ethnic groups.

The government has recently announced a $100 dollars payout for all Singaporean and PR to encourage sports. You can register to recieve your $100 payout through www.myactivesg.com . After registered, you just need to go to any of the swimming pool office for verification and $100 will be deposited into ur activesg account and it can be used to offset ur entrance fee for all sports related SSC's activity.

To make billions, get a PhD, then go to Hong Kong
ALEXI MOSTROUS THE TIMES APRIL 28, 2014 1:14PM

Media executive James Packer (l) with Lawrence Ho ® in March 2005.
James Packer, left, with his Hong Kong-based partner Lawrence Ho. Hong Kong is the most billionaire-friendly place on earth, a study has found. Source: News Limited

PROSPECTIVE billionaires take note. To join the 0.001 per cent follow three rules: move to Hong Kong, earn a PhD from a top university and work under an English legal system.

A study of the world's 1000 richest self-made men and women has laid out the perfect conditions to become a "super-entrepreneur".

Countries with low tax rates, minimal regulation, excellent academic institutions and an Anglo-Saxon legal system are best placed to create billionaires, according to the study, published today by the Centre for Policy Studies.

With about three super-entrepreneurs per one million inhabitants, Hong Kong is the most billionaire-friendly place on earth, followed by Israel, the US, Switzerland and Singapore. The US is roughly four times more entrepreneurial than western Europe and three times more entrepreneurial than Japan, the study found.

Despite its reputation as a nation of investors, Britain is placed only 11th in the league table, lagging behind Australia but ahead of France and Germany.

The UK boasts 32 super-entrepreneurs, who are defined as having earned at least dollars 1 billion (pounds 600 million) and having appeared in Forbes magazine's list of the world's richest people between 1996 and 2010.

Many of Britain's richest are either foreigners, such as Alisher Usmanov, who came to the country six years ago, or heirs to fortunes, such as the Duke of Westminster, the property magnate.

Self-made entrepreneurs also flourish, as Sir Philip Green, the man behind Topshop, and Sir Richard Branson show. "Britain is one of the best countries in Europe," Tino Sanandaji, the report's co-author, said. "Some countries, like France, the rich have mainly inherited wealth, but in Britain a high percentage of your wealthy are self-made.

"It's partially explained by the low tax rates and London's place as a financial centre, but having centres of knowledge such as Oxford and Cambridge universities is also very important."

The study found that super-entrepreneurs tended to be "well educated and exceptionally bright". Only 16 per cent of US billionaire entrepreneurs lack a college degree, the study found, compared with 54 per cent of self-employed or salaried workers. US super-entrepreneurs were five times more likely to hold a PhD than other people.

Super-entrepreneurs have created thousands of jobs and wealth for people other than themselves, the study says. It also found that 31 out of the largest 100 US public companies were founded after the Second World War, compared with seven of Europe's top 100 firms.

"This type of entrepreneurial wealth can be socially valuable," Mr Sanandaji said. "Of course, some of these billionaires are from hedge funds, but finance only comprises 2 or 3 per cent of the list.

"It might not be the right time to lower tax rates," he added, "but one of the other ways countries such as Britain could stimulate entrepreneurship without increasing inequality is to promote its elite universities."

Mr Sanandaji said: "Britain has the potential to be very competitive in the tech industry, you have all the requirements. But 'frontier knowledge' is very important. There's a strong correlation between entrepreneurial success and a country which publishes a lot of scientific papers."

The Times

He is in Malaysia now, so near and yet so far.

PUBLISHED APRIL 25, 2014
Investors snub MSCI plan for China stocks

It is proposing to include yuan- denominated A shares in its indices

MSCI's proposal to include mainland Chinese equities in its global indices is getting a cold reception from investors - PHOTO: REUTERS
'To put them in an index when most of the investors can't buy those shares, because of the various restrictions . . . doesn't make sense.'
- Mr Mobius
[SINGAPORE] MSCI's proposal to include mainland Chinese equities in its global indices is getting a cold reception from investors.
Fidelity Worldwide Investment calls it crazy. Schroder Investment Management says that it's terrible. Societe Generale's private-banking unit dubs it unfair.
While China is opening up its capital markets as part of the most sweeping economic overhaul in two decades, the reaction to MSCI's plan shows how much more President Xi Jinping needs to do before the country can be integrated into global markets. International investors who measure their returns against MSCI indices say that the proposal is unworkable unless China removes the capital controls that limit access to local securities.
"To put them in an index when most of the investors can't buy those shares, because of the various restrictions that the Chinese have, doesn't make sense," Mark Mobius, who oversees about US$50 billion as executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets, said in an April 7 interview on Bloomberg Television.
MSCI, whose gauges are used by money managers with an estimated US$8 trillion of assets, has been consulting with banks and funds on whether to include yuan-denominated A shares in its benchmark Chinese and developing-nation indices starting next year.
MSCI plans to include the proposal in its 2014 review of market classifications, to be announced in June. The index provider would probably contact between 2,000 and 3,000 global investors before deciding whether to include A shares, Chia Chin-ping, a Hong Kong-based managing director at MSCI, said last month.
Mr Chia said separately on April 17 that no decision has been made and MSCI "fully expects" investors to express different views on the "complex" issue.
The MSCI China Index, largely composed of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong, has lost 7.1 per cent in the past four years, compared with a 31 per cent drop for the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index. The MSCI gauge fell 0.2 per cent at 10.01am in Hong Kong yesterday, while the Shanghai measure slid 0.3 per cent, heading for its lowest level in about three weeks.
Under China's existing rules, only overseas institutions that have been awarded licences and quotas by two different regulatory bodies can invest in A shares. The combined approved quota of about US$86 billion is less than 3 per cent of the US$3.3 trillion market value of locally-listed companies.
It's a "terrible idea because you haven't got the liquidity or the accessibility", Allan Conway, head of emerging-market equities at Schroder, said on April 9 in London. "There's only a certain percentage of those shares that foreigners can buy. There's a quota. You have to buy a quota to even get the exposure to begin with, so you've got very limited accessibility."
Quotas issued under the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor programme, known as QFII, total about US$54 billion, while 201 billion yuan (S$40.49 billion) of quotas have been doled out under the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor programme, or RQFII, according to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
QFII allows dollars to be used for stock and bond investments in the local currency, while RQFII enables offshore yuan to be invested in China.
"If the A-share market does well and foreigners can't take part in this, then it would be unfair," David Poh, the Singapore-based regional head of portfolio-management solutions at the private-banking unit of Societe Generale, which had about US$116 billion under management as at December, said on April 4.
Adding China's domestic shares to MSCI indices would expose investors to a wider range of companies in the world's fifth-biggest equity market. The MSCI China index has 140 stocks, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That compares with about 1,000 in the Shanghai Composite and more than 1,600 in the Shenzhen Composite Index. The move may lure about US$12 billion to the indices, MSCI's Mr Chia said.
"I am in favour of including A shares to the MSCI indices," Robbert Van Batenburg, a director of market strategy at Newedge Group in New York, wrote in response to questions on April 2. "It will however be a very gradual inclusion and presumably contingent upon further liberalisation of the A-shares market."
The number of members in the MSCI China index would increase to 385, with 221 A-share companies being added, according to MSCI's March statement. The weighting of A shares would initially be 2.9 per cent due to the difficulty of investors obtaining quotas, MSCI said. - Bloomberg

Singapore is often proud and tend to reference their performance to external international benchmark. Everything goes well if is in our favor. What if is not so clear.

http://www.demographia.com/dhi.pdf

Is being the best of the worst good enough for us ?

"Singapore had a Median Multiple of 5.1, for a severely
unaffordable rating. Other severely unaffordable geographies included Australia (6.3), New Zealand (8.0), and
Hong Kong (14.9)."

"Singapore's well-designed regulatory
structure, with its emphasis on sufficient supply and affordability is capable of restoring housing affordability."

"With severely unaffordable housing, Singapore has not been as successful as might have been hoped. In some
years insufficient supply was produced, which resulted in the now elevated costs. But, by comparison to
metropolitan areas that have followed the British urban containment model, Singapore's results have been
stellar. Housing affordability has virtually spiraled out of control in places like Hong Kong, Vancouver, San
Francisco, San Jose, Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and London, reaching levels of 7.0 to nearly 15.0. "

Food for thoughts.

Cory

Chinese tycoon Ai Yakang buys actress daughter Ai Ru a football team
LEO LEWIS THE TIMES APRIL 22, 2014 10:09AM

Chinese heiress and actress Ai Ru with members of the Sichuan Leaders Football Club. Pict
Chinese heiress and actress Ai Ru with members of the Sichuan Leaders Football Club. Picture: Baidu Baike Source: Supplied
WHEN the daughters of Chinese petrochemical tycoons need a bit of retail therapy, they usually ask Dad to buy them a flat in Shanghai, a Maserati or a yacht.

Ai Ru wanted a football team. Eight months and a flurry of corporate manoeuvring later, the 25-year-old actress and model has been granted her wish by her doting father, who has a successful lubricants business, a penchant for ice-white silk suits and a shrewd eye for politics.

The youngest executive in the Chinese football league by many years, Ms Ai is the president, spokeswoman, manager and ambassador of Sichuan Leaders Football Club, a third division side that has played only two professional games (won one, lost one) since being founded in February.

By her father's definition, Ms Ai is a businesswoman from a new Chinese mould: while coaches and other football veterans work on the players' skills, she says that for the first year or so she will devote 30 per cent of her time to management of the club and 70 per cent to nurturing her personal brand. She is negotiating for a role in a television drama in which she might play a "very beautiful psychopath".

On the eve of her team's first home game, she said that her energies would be devoted towards getting her squad to play as a team, building the players' confidence and creating a decent-sized fan base that she wants to run eventually into the tens of thousands.

Ultimately, she wants the team to enter the Super League, China's equivalent of the Premier League and an institution still so convulsed with scandal that many Chinese remain disgusted with football as a whole. Winning or losing is not, for the moment, Ms Ai's biggest concern.

As Ms Ai acknowledged between whispered phone calls to her theatrical agent, China's newest football manager does not have a background in football or management.

Instead, she pointed to an operational innovation for which she has great hopes: a system on her mobile phone that enables her to remain in constant instant messenger chat with her players when they are off the pitch. She is also working out how to have her team's matches, which will not be broadcast on television, streamed on to the internet, a move that could revolutionise the way that small teams with small budgets build support. This elicits a beam of pure pride from her father, Ai Yakang, a man who has a vast fortune and believes that he owes something to "the society that bestowed my wealth on me".

Ms Ai has been a fan of football since, aged 11, she stayed up late to watch all the games in the 1998 World Cup in France, and s he is not daunted by the challenges that face her. "I have a very strong feeling that in China in 2014, nothing is impossible," she said.

"China is at a time when great things are happening all the time. In industries across the whole country, there are managers doing things that they haven't done before and that the whole country is only doing for the first time.

"I think it is clear that football is going to become a big part of the way Chinese people entertain themselves. Certainly, it does not play the same role in people's lives as it does in Britain, but this is a very big country and passion for sport is almost seen as a patriotic thing."

Last year photos appeared in Chinese state media of the newly installed President Xi playing football. The pictures emerged just as China's new leader had begun waging a high-profile campaign against corruption and the Chinese football association was trying to cleanse its image as a hotbed of match-fixing and bribery.

"It was very striking because I immediately saw the message behind it," Ms Ai said. "I think that under Xi, Chinese football is going to have support from the government, so I told my father that he should buy a football team and he agreed with me. He always agrees with me."

At this point, Ms Ai's father felt the need to add his commentary. "She may look gentle, but she is incredibly strong," he said.

The Times

Elena Chong
The Straits Times

Friday, Apr 18, 2014

A senior bank executive was charged in court yesterday with intruding on women's privacy by taking videos up their skirts.

Yuen Kum Fai, 44, the global head of personal banking and preferred banking at Standard Chartered Bank, had allegedly used his cellphone camera to film up the skirt of a 27-year-old woman on an escalator at The Sail @ Marina Bay, Marina Boulevard, at about 9.15am on Dec 9 last year.

Yuen faces two other counts of committing similar offences at the same place, between the end of November and early December.

He showed no emotion when the charges were read to him.

District Judge Ronald Gwee issued a gag order against publishing the name of the victim in the first charge.

The identities of the other women are not known.

Yuen's lawyer Amarjit Singh Sidhu asked for the case to be adjourned to make representations to the Attorney-General's Chambers.

He also successfully applied for his client to leave the country as he has to travel to Kuala Lumpur over the next two weekends on work-related matters.

The prosecution had no objections.

Upon his return, he has to surrender his passport to the investigating officer within 24 hours.

Before his current position, Yuen had worked in Citibank for many years. He was business director and head of credit cards and regional head, corporate card and Diners Club strategy.

He also worked in Shanghai as chief executive officer of the Citibank Shanghai Pudong Development Bank joint venture.

Responding to The Straits Times, a spokesman for Standard Chartered Bank said by e-mail: "This is a matter involving Yuen Kum Fai in his personal capacity. As this matter is currently pending before the court, it would be inappropriate for us to comment on it."

Yuen will be back in court on May 20.

If convicted, he could be jailed for up to one year and/or fined on each charge.

elena@sph.com.sg