1. "NMP nominations: 48 proposal forms received by Parliament
SINGAPORE: Parliament has received 48 Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) proposal forms, the Office of the Clerk of Parliament said on Friday (Jul 6). Submissions closed at 4.30pm.
This is more than the 41 forms received in 2016, and the 36 submissions in 2014.
Members of the public and seven functional groups - business and industry, labour, the professions, social service organisations, the civic and people sector, tertiary education institutions, and media, arts and sports organisations - are able to make submissions for the role.
Only names of people who qualify for appointment will be submitted to the eight-member Special Select Committee of Parliament for consideration, after which the recommendation will be submitted to the President for appointment.
The committee is chaired by Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and comprises MPs Chee Hong Tat, Grace Fu, Koh Poh Koon, Sylvia Lim, Josephine Teo, Vikram Nair and Lawrence Wong.
But apart from the Labour Movement, who announced its nomination of veteran union leader Arasu Duraisamy for the position on Jun 29, coordinators of the other six functional groups did not reveal the names of their nominees."
A good sign that MORE NMP nomination papers were received. 48 this time vs. 2016 41 vs. 2014 36.
It is still a puzzle why the trade union still need a NMP considering that many of the MPs including cabinet ministers are in the trade union itself. This question had been raised many times and no one want to deal with it. Should this one precious NMP seat by given to someone or some groups that have NO MP at all? A point to ponder over really.
As to the question of: 'Are NMPs effective? What have they contributed to the original intention of getting non-partisan voices for the public and the 7 functional groups?' I am not sure though I did enjoy a few of the parliamentary speeches by some of the NMPs. In particular, Ms Kuik.
Hope that this NEW batch of NMPs will have some who will speak out more.
2. "Panic buying at showflats after new cooling measures
SINGAPORE: Crowds of potential buyers flooded showflats across Singapore shortly after new cooling measures were announced on Thursday (Jul 5), in the hope of avoiding a hike in stamp duty or tighter loan limits.
Several showflats extended their opening hours until 11.59pm on Thursday, with some developers even bringing forward their launches by a couple of weeks.
The Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) rates will be raised by 5 percentage points for citizens and permanent residents (PRs) buying second and subsequent homes as well as foreigners buying any residential property, the government announced on Thursday.
The new rates are effective Jul 6, but there will be a transitional provision for cases where the Option to Purchase (OTP) is granted by sellers to potential buyers on or before Jul 5.
Meanwhile, loan-to-value limits will be tightened by 5 percentage points for all housing loans granted by financial institutions.
Among the showflats that extended their opening hours were Park Colonial along Upper Serangoon Road, Stirling Residences in Queenstown, The Crest at Alexandra, Seaside Residences in Siglap and Riverfront Residences in Hougang."
It is obviously that those who launched into a 'panic' buying believes that their newly purchased properties will INCREASE in prices FOR SURE! Or, hopefully they REALLY have real short term need to have a 'roof over their head' and since it is a home to stay in, buying at a price without the increased ABSD of 5% makes sense! Oops. Sorry, the ABSD only applies to those who are buying a 2nd or 3rd properties! So, it should definitely be an INVESTMENT property. Hmm. Maybe they know something that the almighty government don't! That the property market will FOREVER see INCREASING prices and not a down turn!
Who is right? These market players or the government? Let's see how things play out in the next 2 quarters!
SINGAPORE: Parliament has received 48 Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) proposal forms, the Office of the Clerk of Parliament said on Friday (Jul 6). Submissions closed at 4.30pm.
This is more than the 41 forms received in 2016, and the 36 submissions in 2014.
Only names of people who qualify for appointment will be submitted to the eight-member Special Select Committee of Parliament for consideration, after which the recommendation will be submitted to the President for appointment.
The committee is chaired by Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin and comprises MPs Chee Hong Tat, Grace Fu, Koh Poh Koon, Sylvia Lim, Josephine Teo, Vikram Nair and Lawrence Wong.
But apart from the Labour Movement, who announced its nomination of veteran union leader Arasu Duraisamy for the position on Jun 29, coordinators of the other six functional groups did not reveal the names of their nominees."
A good sign that MORE NMP nomination papers were received. 48 this time vs. 2016 41 vs. 2014 36.
It is still a puzzle why the trade union still need a NMP considering that many of the MPs including cabinet ministers are in the trade union itself. This question had been raised many times and no one want to deal with it. Should this one precious NMP seat by given to someone or some groups that have NO MP at all? A point to ponder over really.
As to the question of: 'Are NMPs effective? What have they contributed to the original intention of getting non-partisan voices for the public and the 7 functional groups?' I am not sure though I did enjoy a few of the parliamentary speeches by some of the NMPs. In particular, Ms Kuik.
Hope that this NEW batch of NMPs will have some who will speak out more.
2. "Panic buying at showflats after new cooling measures
SINGAPORE: Crowds of potential buyers flooded showflats across Singapore shortly after new cooling measures were announced on Thursday (Jul 5), in the hope of avoiding a hike in stamp duty or tighter loan limits.
Several showflats extended their opening hours until 11.59pm on Thursday, with some developers even bringing forward their launches by a couple of weeks.
The Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) rates will be raised by 5 percentage points for citizens and permanent residents (PRs) buying second and subsequent homes as well as foreigners buying any residential property, the government announced on Thursday.
The new rates are effective Jul 6, but there will be a transitional provision for cases where the Option to Purchase (OTP) is granted by sellers to potential buyers on or before Jul 5.
Meanwhile, loan-to-value limits will be tightened by 5 percentage points for all housing loans granted by financial institutions.
Among the showflats that extended their opening hours were Park Colonial along Upper Serangoon Road, Stirling Residences in Queenstown, The Crest at Alexandra, Seaside Residences in Siglap and Riverfront Residences in Hougang."
It is obviously that those who launched into a 'panic' buying believes that their newly purchased properties will INCREASE in prices FOR SURE! Or, hopefully they REALLY have real short term need to have a 'roof over their head' and since it is a home to stay in, buying at a price without the increased ABSD of 5% makes sense! Oops. Sorry, the ABSD only applies to those who are buying a 2nd or 3rd properties! So, it should definitely be an INVESTMENT property. Hmm. Maybe they know something that the almighty government don't! That the property market will FOREVER see INCREASING prices and not a down turn!
Who is right? These market players or the government? Let's see how things play out in the next 2 quarters!
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