I received an email from the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) on Thursday - an invitation to attend a seminar on Temasek's retail bond. The retail bond which is being offered by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, was launched on Wednesday (17 Oct). This bond comes with a five-year maturity and a fixed interest rate of 2.7 per cent Up to $200 million of …

I refer to the news report by Straits Times on Wednesday, “Temasek offering first retail bonds at 2.7% fixed interest”. The article states that “Investment company Temasek has launched its first public bond offer for retail investors.” Someone asked me what is the difference between the subject Temasek’s first public bond for retail investors and Temasek’s first retail private equity …

Public institutions should stop giving selective statistics, as it is arguably in a sense like ‘fake news’ or ‘propaganda’ which may only further undermine the already diluted trust of the public in our public institutions  I refer to the article “Percentage of foreigners admitted to public hospitals falls from 2008” by Sunday Times, on the stop of public healthcare institutions (PHIs) …

Why can’t the formula to determine the amount of financial assistance for short and medium-term assistance under ComCare be disclosed? I refer to the article, “More families depending on long-term financial aid from Government to get by: MSF” (Straits Times, Oct 5). The article states that the increasing number of seniors who cannot work due to old age or illness and …

I refer to the article “Government has not curbed public prosecutor’s discretion for Section 377A: A-G Lucien Wong” (Straits Times, Oct 3). It states that “The Government has not removed or restricted prosecutorial discretion for Section 377A, Attorney-General Lucien Wong said in a statement released on Tuesday (Oct 2). He noted that former A-Gs, Professor Walter Woon and Mr V. …

I refer to the article “$700m SG Bonus to be paid out to 2.8m S’poreans by December” (Straits Times, Sep 29). A total of 2.8 million Singaporeans will receive letters from 2 October 2018 onwards, informing them of their SG Bonus benefit, which will be paid out to citizens by December 2018. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced on Friday, …

The ‘propaganda onslaught’ on the ‘HDB 99-year’ problem continues? I refer to the article “What it should have been” (Straits Times, Sep 25). The ST article states that: “In a Sunday Times report headlined “Old is gold for these buyers of ageing HDB flats“, we said that National Development Minister Lawrence Wong had warned people not to pay overly high …

The Government should follow the online falsehoods’ committee’s recommendation to give reasons for decisions not to disclose information to the public, in order to gain the public’s trust? I refer to the article “Can’t unemployed or underemployed S’poreans take up jobs done by any of 372,100 foreign PMETs here?‘ (theonlinecitizen, Jun 27). It states that “Last week, ST reader Tan …

It has been recently reported that food operator Kopitiam is being sold to NTUC Enterprise Co-operative Limited for an undisclosed sum. According to reports, NTUC Enterprise is buying all of Kopitiam Investment and its subsidiaries, which span 80 outlets islandwide, in a deal expected to be completed by the end of the year. As I understand that this acquisition may …

An old schoolmate from RI (Raffles Institution), CK, alerted me to the following information which he was pointed to by the Central Provident Fund Board after asking what happens to his CPF money if he passes away early. On the website, "areyouready.sg" which is a website run by the CPF board, it writes: “3.  What happens to the premium if …