Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Professionals Networking Night Preview
Don't miss it. I'll be sharing tips on conducting a successful e-marketing campaign.
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Free Tibet?
You can make your own conclusions after watching the video.
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Consumer Day Protesters arrested
Awesome video by Andrew Loh from The Online Citizen.
The Police has kind of lost the plot with the hard hand tactics. Let's see how this event develops.
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
Monday, March 10, 2008
Singapore faces blogging ire over militant escape
By Melanie Lee
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's state-controlled media and government have come under fire from critics and Internet bloggers for failing to give the public important answers on the escape of a suspected Islamic militant.
With a cynical eye cast on local newspapers such as the pro-government daily, the Straits Times, critics say media coverage has skirted key issues and so more people were turning to alternatives such as blogs for a differing viewpoint.
"The mainstream media did its job of trying to play down the most shameful part of the incident. It is a blow to Singapore's image as being efficient," Seah Chiang Nee, a political commentator and former Singapore newspaper editor, told Reuters.
"The more Internet savvy would not depend on the mainstream media for news of what's happening in the country, they would go to the Internet," said Seah.
Mas Selamat bin Kastari, the alleged leader of the Singapore cell of al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah, a group blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, escaped on Wednesday last week from the toilet of a detention centre.
Security experts said the escape was embarrassing for a country that prides itself on tight security. The escape sparked an unprecedented manhunt in the small island and a rare apology from the government, who blamed a "security lapse". But few further details of his escape have since been released.
Cherian George, an ex-Straits Times journalist and media lecturer, wrote on the Internet that the Singapore media had not answered the "immediate" question of how Kastari escaped.
"The question is so natural and so obvious that you'd think anyone barely paying attention would ask it. Unless, apparently, one worked for the national news media," George wrote.
LOSS OF CREDIBILITY
George said the absence of this question was due to media management by the government and that the main result would be a loss of credibility for the national media that would push readers to other sources.
Letters to The Straits Times have also poured scorn on the government's handling of the crisis and flow of information.
"I am disturbed by the security lapse ... more explanation is required," wrote Rosemary Chwee Keng Chai in a letter.
Patrick Daniel, editor-in-chief of the Straits Times, told Reuters by email that the paper took its responsibility to readers seriously and that George was "utterly wrong" in his conclusion or that its journalists had never asked questions on how Kastari escaped.
"If Cherian had checked with us, we would have told him that we asked that question, and many others too, many times," he said, adding the paper had run an article exploring the issue headlined "How did he manage to escape?" on Friday.
Reuters, a global news and information provider, repeatedly asked the Ministry of Home Affairs for more details on the escape but was either referred to its initial five-line statement or was unable to reach its spokeswoman on by telephone.
Singapore retains a tight grip on its national newspapers through a comprehensive legal framework that requires, among other things, a publication permit to be granted at the discretion of the minister. A substantial shareholder of a newspaper company must also gain approval of a minister.
"I think that there was tacit understanding between the government and the media," Catherine Lim, a prominent local author and political commentator, told Reuters.
"It's a good working relationship. Local media would never be as inquisitive, probing or rambunctious as the Western media."
Some bloggers had a field day, morphing Kastari's face onto a poster for TV series Prison Break and saying even students doing examinations in the city-state were accompanied to the toilet.
"We are not like those free-wheeling and chaotic governments from Western democracies that make their leaders accountable for every little thing," wrote Lee Kin Mun, better known under his online moniker 'Mr Brown', Singapore's most famous blogger.
(Editing by Neil Chatterjee and Alex Richardson)
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSSP29412620080306?sp=true
Great article from Melanie Lee. We need more neutral and courageous journalist in Singapore.
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's state-controlled media and government have come under fire from critics and Internet bloggers for failing to give the public important answers on the escape of a suspected Islamic militant.
With a cynical eye cast on local newspapers such as the pro-government daily, the Straits Times, critics say media coverage has skirted key issues and so more people were turning to alternatives such as blogs for a differing viewpoint.
"The mainstream media did its job of trying to play down the most shameful part of the incident. It is a blow to Singapore's image as being efficient," Seah Chiang Nee, a political commentator and former Singapore newspaper editor, told Reuters.
"The more Internet savvy would not depend on the mainstream media for news of what's happening in the country, they would go to the Internet," said Seah.
Mas Selamat bin Kastari, the alleged leader of the Singapore cell of al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah, a group blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, escaped on Wednesday last week from the toilet of a detention centre.
Security experts said the escape was embarrassing for a country that prides itself on tight security. The escape sparked an unprecedented manhunt in the small island and a rare apology from the government, who blamed a "security lapse". But few further details of his escape have since been released.
Cherian George, an ex-Straits Times journalist and media lecturer, wrote on the Internet that the Singapore media had not answered the "immediate" question of how Kastari escaped.
"The question is so natural and so obvious that you'd think anyone barely paying attention would ask it. Unless, apparently, one worked for the national news media," George wrote.
LOSS OF CREDIBILITY
George said the absence of this question was due to media management by the government and that the main result would be a loss of credibility for the national media that would push readers to other sources.
Letters to The Straits Times have also poured scorn on the government's handling of the crisis and flow of information.
"I am disturbed by the security lapse ... more explanation is required," wrote Rosemary Chwee Keng Chai in a letter.
Patrick Daniel, editor-in-chief of the Straits Times, told Reuters by email that the paper took its responsibility to readers seriously and that George was "utterly wrong" in his conclusion or that its journalists had never asked questions on how Kastari escaped.
"If Cherian had checked with us, we would have told him that we asked that question, and many others too, many times," he said, adding the paper had run an article exploring the issue headlined "How did he manage to escape?" on Friday.
Reuters, a global news and information provider, repeatedly asked the Ministry of Home Affairs for more details on the escape but was either referred to its initial five-line statement or was unable to reach its spokeswoman on by telephone.
Singapore retains a tight grip on its national newspapers through a comprehensive legal framework that requires, among other things, a publication permit to be granted at the discretion of the minister. A substantial shareholder of a newspaper company must also gain approval of a minister.
"I think that there was tacit understanding between the government and the media," Catherine Lim, a prominent local author and political commentator, told Reuters.
"It's a good working relationship. Local media would never be as inquisitive, probing or rambunctious as the Western media."
Some bloggers had a field day, morphing Kastari's face onto a poster for TV series Prison Break and saying even students doing examinations in the city-state were accompanied to the toilet.
"We are not like those free-wheeling and chaotic governments from Western democracies that make their leaders accountable for every little thing," wrote Lee Kin Mun, better known under his online moniker 'Mr Brown', Singapore's most famous blogger.
(Editing by Neil Chatterjee and Alex Richardson)
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSSP29412620080306?sp=true
Great article from Melanie Lee. We need more neutral and courageous journalist in Singapore.
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
PM Lee Hsien Long - How To Fix The Opposition
This is the statement PM Lee Hsien Long made just before the last GE.
PM Lee in a rally speech at Raffles place, 3 May 2006 just before the General Election:
“Supposing you have a Parliament with 10, 15 or 20 opposition members out of 80, then instead of spending my time thinking what is the right policy for Singapore, I will spend all my time, I have to spend all my time thinking of what is the right way to fix them, what’s the best way to buy my own supporters over”.
Yes, I've been fixed alright.
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
Monday, February 25, 2008
Malaysia Election Song
Interesting Malaysian Election Song.
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
Check Three Times
Interesting video on Video Scandal on Malaysian Minister. ;-)
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
Lingam's Devil Curry
More insights to the controversial Lingam videos. ;-)
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
Rough Little Indian Boys
Nice song with great humour. I pray all those guys at Hindraf are not marginalized.
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Visualization -> Taking Action -> Accountability
P.S. This is a video I took in Dec 07. ;-)
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Suharto's shadow over S'pore REVERED, REVILED, REALITY
Suharto's shadow over S'pore REVERED, REVILED, REALITY
Why S'pore should not forget him
By Peter H L Lim
January 29, 2008 Print Ready Email Article
EMPAT MATA in both Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia means four eyes.
Click to see larger image
In Asean diplomatic circles, the phrase does not refer to shortsighted people wearing glasses.
Empat mata sessions are closed-door, deep discussions between national leaders meeting, literally, one-to-one. Absent are the usually ubiquitous aides, interpreters and note-takers.
In such a setting, the leaders can talk frankly and without reservation.
There are no witnesses. Such heart-to-heart chats can solve pesky problems, postpone them - or make things even worse.
In May 1973, an empat mata meeting took place in Jakarta between then President Suharto of Indonesia and then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore.
They had a bundle of deeply-rooted problems to tackle. The peskiest of them was what many Indonesians regarded as Mr Lee's disrespectful, even humiliating rebuff of Mr Suharto.
SABOTAGE
That problem had its origins 10 years earlier. In January 1963, Indonesia under the late President Sukarno launched what he called Konfrontasi (Confrontation) to try and abort the birth of Malaysia.
The proposed nation was being formed by the British bringing together the Federation of Malaya and their colonies on Singapore island, on the Malayan peninsula and in Borneo.
In today's lingo, the Indonesian armed incursions and sabotage missions against Malaya and the British colonies were acts of state-sponsored terrorism.
One such act, the bombing of a Hongkong & Shanghai Bank branch in Orchard Road in 1964, killed threepeople.
The saboteurs - as terrorists were called then - were caught, tried and sentenced to be hanged. They were given the full benefit of the law.
Their appeals against the death sentences went all the way to the Privy Council in London, then the highest court of appeal for Singapore judicial decisions.
The Privy Council dismissed the appeals in 1968. The two saboteurs were to be hanged.
They were regarded by the Indonesians as commandos who had been on a wartime mission.
The Indonesian view was that they should have been treated as prisoners of war rather than murder accused to be tried in a criminal court.
Mr Suharto sent an emissary to Singapore to seek clemency for the two men. Commute the death sentences to prison terms, he pleaded. The two men were hanged.
Mr Lee explains in his 2000 book From Third World To First, the second of his two-volume memoirs: 'If we yielded, then the rule of law not only within Singapore but between our neighbours and Singapore would become meaningless as we would always be open to pressure.
'If we were afraid to enforce the law while British forces were still in Singapore, even though they had announced that they would be withdrawing by 1971, then our neighbours, whether Indonesia or Malaysia, could walk over us with impunity after 1971.'
The reaction in Jakarta streets and elsewhere were violent.
There were threats against Singapore from sections of the Indonesian armed forces. Trade restrictions were imposed.
So a really hot potato was added to a whole basket of long-standing grievances held by various Indonesian sectors against Singapore. Among the grievances was the feeling that Singapore was benefiting unfairly and illegally in various ways in its dealings with Indonesia.
So the September 1965 coup and counter-coup in Indonesia and its bloody aftermath were bad news also for Singapore. The chaos in Indonesia, with some of its islands so close to Singapore, could easily spill over.
Then, after Mr Suharto had taken over power from President Sukarno, the former unexpectedly chose a Singapore newspaper to announce the end of Confrontation.
Said the paper's front-page headline of 2 May 1966: Suharto tells The Straits Times: Peace, The Sooner The Better.
There was indeed peace on the military and terrorism fronts. But relations between Singapore and Indonesia did not start to warm up until September 1970, when Mr Lee and Mr Suharto met for the first time at a Non-Aligned Conference in Lusaka.
They found that they clicked. But it was not until May 1973, when MrLee visited Jakarta, that the formal relationship between the two leaders started to morph into friendship.
Says Mr Lee in his 2000 book: 'If there was to be genuine friendship with President Suharto (so said Indonesian generals to Singapore's Ambassador K C Lee), the episode over the hanging of the two marines (the commandos) had to be closed with a diplomatic gesture that addressed 'Javanese beliefs in souls and clear conscience'.'
So Mr Lee scattered flowers on the graves of the two marines during a cemetery visit to pay respects to generals killed in the 1965 coup.
And Mr Lee and Mr Suharto were then able to have their first empat mata meeting that led to a sea change in relations between the two countries. Differences still existed, but the respective points of view were heard and, even when not fully understood, were given due respect.
Singapore and Indonesia could live and work together, the bilateral relationship surviving the changes of leadership in Jakarta. Stability and progress in Indonesia also benefited the region.
Asean as a whole progressed.
When Mr Suharto himself was ousted, the friendship continued. A measure of the strength of that friendship came on 13 January, when Mr Lee went to Jakarta to visit the ailing Mr Suharto, now no longer President.
'It is sad,' said Mr Lee, now Minister Mentor, 'to see a very old friend... not really getting the honours that he deserves.'
Mr Suharto had become much less revered by his people and much reviled as a result of years of misrule.
PROMISING
His legacy had started so promisingly. Under President Sukarno, Indonesia was becoming a failed state that was shutting down. Mr Suharto rebooted it.
But, as Mr Lee acknowledged two weeks ago, 'yes, there was corruption ... but there was real growth, real progress'.
Mr Lee also said: 'What is a few billion dollars lost in bad excesses? He built hundred of billions of dollars worth of assets.'
That statement stunned people in Singapore and elsewhere. Was Mr Lee condoning corruption and nepotism? Would that lead to a deterioration of our integrity of governance?
I think not. Mr Lee was not signalling that corruption and nepotism were okay if you could built up national assets. He was paying tribute to a leader and a friend who had done a lot of good and also bad. A leader and friend whose legacy includes its impact on Singapore.
There will be continuing discussions of Mr Lee's stusnner of a statement and the need for unceasing vigilance against bad governance.
Indeed, Mr Lee and Mr Suharto were an odd couple. But national interests and historic perspectives can also come across as odd.
But that's reality.
About the Writer:
Peter H.L. Lim, 69, was editor-in-chief of The Straits Times Press from 1978 to 1987. As a unionist with the SNUJ in the 1960s, he held various positions, including that of secretary-general and chairman.
----------------------------
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
Why S'pore should not forget him
By Peter H L Lim
January 29, 2008 Print Ready Email Article
EMPAT MATA in both Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia means four eyes.
Click to see larger image
In Asean diplomatic circles, the phrase does not refer to shortsighted people wearing glasses.
Empat mata sessions are closed-door, deep discussions between national leaders meeting, literally, one-to-one. Absent are the usually ubiquitous aides, interpreters and note-takers.
In such a setting, the leaders can talk frankly and without reservation.
There are no witnesses. Such heart-to-heart chats can solve pesky problems, postpone them - or make things even worse.
In May 1973, an empat mata meeting took place in Jakarta between then President Suharto of Indonesia and then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore.
They had a bundle of deeply-rooted problems to tackle. The peskiest of them was what many Indonesians regarded as Mr Lee's disrespectful, even humiliating rebuff of Mr Suharto.
SABOTAGE
That problem had its origins 10 years earlier. In January 1963, Indonesia under the late President Sukarno launched what he called Konfrontasi (Confrontation) to try and abort the birth of Malaysia.
The proposed nation was being formed by the British bringing together the Federation of Malaya and their colonies on Singapore island, on the Malayan peninsula and in Borneo.
In today's lingo, the Indonesian armed incursions and sabotage missions against Malaya and the British colonies were acts of state-sponsored terrorism.
One such act, the bombing of a Hongkong & Shanghai Bank branch in Orchard Road in 1964, killed threepeople.
The saboteurs - as terrorists were called then - were caught, tried and sentenced to be hanged. They were given the full benefit of the law.
Their appeals against the death sentences went all the way to the Privy Council in London, then the highest court of appeal for Singapore judicial decisions.
The Privy Council dismissed the appeals in 1968. The two saboteurs were to be hanged.
They were regarded by the Indonesians as commandos who had been on a wartime mission.
The Indonesian view was that they should have been treated as prisoners of war rather than murder accused to be tried in a criminal court.
Mr Suharto sent an emissary to Singapore to seek clemency for the two men. Commute the death sentences to prison terms, he pleaded. The two men were hanged.
Mr Lee explains in his 2000 book From Third World To First, the second of his two-volume memoirs: 'If we yielded, then the rule of law not only within Singapore but between our neighbours and Singapore would become meaningless as we would always be open to pressure.
'If we were afraid to enforce the law while British forces were still in Singapore, even though they had announced that they would be withdrawing by 1971, then our neighbours, whether Indonesia or Malaysia, could walk over us with impunity after 1971.'
The reaction in Jakarta streets and elsewhere were violent.
There were threats against Singapore from sections of the Indonesian armed forces. Trade restrictions were imposed.
So a really hot potato was added to a whole basket of long-standing grievances held by various Indonesian sectors against Singapore. Among the grievances was the feeling that Singapore was benefiting unfairly and illegally in various ways in its dealings with Indonesia.
So the September 1965 coup and counter-coup in Indonesia and its bloody aftermath were bad news also for Singapore. The chaos in Indonesia, with some of its islands so close to Singapore, could easily spill over.
Then, after Mr Suharto had taken over power from President Sukarno, the former unexpectedly chose a Singapore newspaper to announce the end of Confrontation.
Said the paper's front-page headline of 2 May 1966: Suharto tells The Straits Times: Peace, The Sooner The Better.
There was indeed peace on the military and terrorism fronts. But relations between Singapore and Indonesia did not start to warm up until September 1970, when Mr Lee and Mr Suharto met for the first time at a Non-Aligned Conference in Lusaka.
They found that they clicked. But it was not until May 1973, when MrLee visited Jakarta, that the formal relationship between the two leaders started to morph into friendship.
Says Mr Lee in his 2000 book: 'If there was to be genuine friendship with President Suharto (so said Indonesian generals to Singapore's Ambassador K C Lee), the episode over the hanging of the two marines (the commandos) had to be closed with a diplomatic gesture that addressed 'Javanese beliefs in souls and clear conscience'.'
So Mr Lee scattered flowers on the graves of the two marines during a cemetery visit to pay respects to generals killed in the 1965 coup.
And Mr Lee and Mr Suharto were then able to have their first empat mata meeting that led to a sea change in relations between the two countries. Differences still existed, but the respective points of view were heard and, even when not fully understood, were given due respect.
Singapore and Indonesia could live and work together, the bilateral relationship surviving the changes of leadership in Jakarta. Stability and progress in Indonesia also benefited the region.
Asean as a whole progressed.
When Mr Suharto himself was ousted, the friendship continued. A measure of the strength of that friendship came on 13 January, when Mr Lee went to Jakarta to visit the ailing Mr Suharto, now no longer President.
'It is sad,' said Mr Lee, now Minister Mentor, 'to see a very old friend... not really getting the honours that he deserves.'
Mr Suharto had become much less revered by his people and much reviled as a result of years of misrule.
PROMISING
His legacy had started so promisingly. Under President Sukarno, Indonesia was becoming a failed state that was shutting down. Mr Suharto rebooted it.
But, as Mr Lee acknowledged two weeks ago, 'yes, there was corruption ... but there was real growth, real progress'.
Mr Lee also said: 'What is a few billion dollars lost in bad excesses? He built hundred of billions of dollars worth of assets.'
That statement stunned people in Singapore and elsewhere. Was Mr Lee condoning corruption and nepotism? Would that lead to a deterioration of our integrity of governance?
I think not. Mr Lee was not signalling that corruption and nepotism were okay if you could built up national assets. He was paying tribute to a leader and a friend who had done a lot of good and also bad. A leader and friend whose legacy includes its impact on Singapore.
There will be continuing discussions of Mr Lee's stusnner of a statement and the need for unceasing vigilance against bad governance.
Indeed, Mr Lee and Mr Suharto were an odd couple. But national interests and historic perspectives can also come across as odd.
But that's reality.
About the Writer:
Peter H.L. Lim, 69, was editor-in-chief of The Straits Times Press from 1978 to 1987. As a unionist with the SNUJ in the 1960s, he held various positions, including that of secretary-general and chairman.
----------------------------
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Singapore vs Hong Kong
Some points to ponder.
*The Rule of Law
*Open Government
*Independent Judiciary
*Clean Civil Service
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
New! - Complimentary Seminar Preview
Check out the new seminar preview series.
==> Complimentary Seminar Preview
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
==> Complimentary Seminar Preview
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
Friday, August 24, 2007
V For Vendetta Speech
There is a big problem in this country. Does it ring a bell?
Do not forget the 5th of November...
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
Internet Empire Launches - Hosting Entrepreneur Workshop
I've been having a lot of people in their late thirties, forties, fifties asking me the same old question. Edmund, do you have something that can make money easily? Something that does not require a lot of IT knowledge? Something that one can pick up really quickly?
I hear you!
==> Hosting Entrepreneur Workshop
I've assembled a 3 hour hands on program that anybody without any IT background can also do it. I've also got Videos to show the person how to do it step-by-step.
More importantly, I will also be providing a 2 year post support for this course to make sure that in the event you come up with any problems after the course, I will double up as your technical manager to help you liaise with your client.
24 seats left!
==> Hosting Entrepreneur Workshop
P.S. - This deal is really good at only 150USD. Sorry this deal is only for those who can attend in Singapore. For my overseas friends, sorry, I will be coming up the full videos so you can sign up as well. Cheers.
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
I hear you!
==> Hosting Entrepreneur Workshop
I've assembled a 3 hour hands on program that anybody without any IT background can also do it. I've also got Videos to show the person how to do it step-by-step.
More importantly, I will also be providing a 2 year post support for this course to make sure that in the event you come up with any problems after the course, I will double up as your technical manager to help you liaise with your client.
24 seats left!
==> Hosting Entrepreneur Workshop
P.S. - This deal is really good at only 150USD. Sorry this deal is only for those who can attend in Singapore. For my overseas friends, sorry, I will be coming up the full videos so you can sign up as well. Cheers.
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Tian Xia Wei Gong - by Name Wee (The Power of Unity)
Awesome scenes.
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
SEO Videos
SEO Expert
Internet Empire
Internet Marketing Singapore
Internet Marketing Coach
Internet Marketing Expert
Internet Marketing Seminar
Internet Marketing Videos
Website Translation Toolbar
Controversial Video From Malaysian Blogger - Wanted by Malaysian Government
Go through the video and see whether it rings a bell.
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
Monday, August 20, 2007
Said Zahari's book launch 1st July 2007
----------------------------------------
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
FEER answers Singapore Defamation Suit
Our Correspondent
16 August 2007
Magazine says no defamation of Lee Hsien Loong and his father took place in August 2006 article
In two 50-page defense statements, The Far Eastern Economic Review has replied to allegations it had defamed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his father, former Premier Lee Kuan Yew, in an interview the magazine carried last August with Singapore opposition politician Chee Soon Juan. The defense statements are here.
The statements, filed late on Friday, argue that no defamation exists because the article and the interview were factual. It also argues that the article was written in the public interest and that as a political figure Chee was qualified to comment on public affairs in the island republic.
Singapore’s leaders, who have filed numerous libel suits against foreign media group and opposition politicians, have yet to lose a case in Singapore’s courts. Among those they have sued or taken other action against are the Economist, the International Herald Tribune, Bloomberg, the Asian Wall Street Journal and FEER.
Defense statements:
DefenceLKY.pdf
DefenceLHL.pdf
Source: AsiaSentil.com
-------------------------------------
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
16 August 2007
Magazine says no defamation of Lee Hsien Loong and his father took place in August 2006 article
In two 50-page defense statements, The Far Eastern Economic Review has replied to allegations it had defamed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his father, former Premier Lee Kuan Yew, in an interview the magazine carried last August with Singapore opposition politician Chee Soon Juan. The defense statements are here.
The statements, filed late on Friday, argue that no defamation exists because the article and the interview were factual. It also argues that the article was written in the public interest and that as a political figure Chee was qualified to comment on public affairs in the island republic.
Singapore’s leaders, who have filed numerous libel suits against foreign media group and opposition politicians, have yet to lose a case in Singapore’s courts. Among those they have sued or taken other action against are the Economist, the International Herald Tribune, Bloomberg, the Asian Wall Street Journal and FEER.
Defense statements:
DefenceLKY.pdf
DefenceLHL.pdf
Source: AsiaSentil.com
-------------------------------------
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Singapore's Temasek profit hit by Shin, lower gains
By Jan Dahinten
SINGAPORE, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Singapore's state-owned Temasek Holdings warned that growing protectionism in Europe and the United States towards it and other sovereign wealth funds could hurt its expansion abroad in search of higher returns.
Temasek [TEM.UL], which owns stakes in Barclays, Standard Chartered, and Chinese banks, is one of a stable of huge state investors with deep pockets and global ambitions which are increasingly coming under scrutiny by Western governments.
The International Monetary Fund said in June it is growing uneasy about the trillions of dollars managed by largely secretive sovereign wealth funds because it fears their activities could disrupt financial markets.
"The free flow of investment is important for economic growth," said Ng Yat Chung, managing director of portfolio management at Temasek, at a briefing on Thursday.
"We would be concerned" about any move towards protectionism in the developed economies, he added.
Government-owned investment vehicles control around $2 trill ion -- roughly the size of France's economy -- and are expected to grow rapidly to $12 trillion by 2015.
Ng acknowledged concerns over investments by state funds in key sectors such as telecommunications and banks but said Temasek, owned by Singapore's finance ministry, was different.
"We distinguish ourselves by our transparency," he said.
IMPAIRMENT CHARGE
Temasek reported a 29 percent drop in net profit to S$9.1 billion ($6 billion) for its 2006/07 financial year, from S$12.8 billion a year ago, on lower divestment gains and an impairment charge on Thai telecoms firm Shin Corp, which lost one third of its stock market value during the period.
Temasek declined to disclose the size of the impairment charge on its Shin stake, but its annual report showed a S$830 million loss from associated companies, which include Shin.
A Temasek-led consortium bought Shin, Thailand's biggest telecoms group, from former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra last year for $3.8 billion. The sale helped spark a prolonged political crisis in Bangkok.
Temasek said it had made S$16 billion of new investments in its 2006/07 financial year, against S$21 billion in the previous year. Last month, the government-owned fund agreed to invest up to 2.1 billion pounds in British bank Barclays Plc.
It divested assets of over S$5 billion in the financial year, against S$13 billion a year ago, while its portfolio value rose 35 percent to $108 billion from $80 billion.
"Temasek's investment outlook remains one of caution in light of medium-term geo-economic risks and signs of bubbly market conditions," Temasek Chairman S. Dhanabalan said in the review.
Temasek has expanded aggressively in Asia since 2002 in an effort to improve its long-term investment returns.
It reported a one-year total shareholder return by market value of 27 percent -- compared with a return of 32.6 percent on the city-state's Straits Times Index (STI) <.STI>, and a 20.7 percent return for a benchmark consisting of one third MSCI Singapore, the World, and Asia-Pacific excluding Japan.
Over a 10-year period, its total shareholder return of 8 percent compared with 9.3 percent for STI, and 7.9 percent for the MSCI index.
Temasek -- headed by Ho Ching, the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong -- owns large stakes in many of Singapore's biggest firms, including Singapore Telecommunications, DBS Group Holdings , Singapore Airlines , and PSA International [PSA.UL].
Temasek said that Singapore accounted for 38 percent of its total portfolio at the end of March, down from 44 percent in the previous financial year. Asia ex-Japan accounted for 40 percent of the portfolio, up from 34 percent in the previous year.
Source: Reuters
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Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
SINGAPORE, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Singapore's state-owned Temasek Holdings warned that growing protectionism in Europe and the United States towards it and other sovereign wealth funds could hurt its expansion abroad in search of higher returns.
Temasek [TEM.UL], which owns stakes in Barclays, Standard Chartered, and Chinese banks, is one of a stable of huge state investors with deep pockets and global ambitions which are increasingly coming under scrutiny by Western governments.
The International Monetary Fund said in June it is growing uneasy about the trillions of dollars managed by largely secretive sovereign wealth funds because it fears their activities could disrupt financial markets.
"The free flow of investment is important for economic growth," said Ng Yat Chung, managing director of portfolio management at Temasek, at a briefing on Thursday.
"We would be concerned" about any move towards protectionism in the developed economies, he added.
Government-owned investment vehicles control around $2 trill ion -- roughly the size of France's economy -- and are expected to grow rapidly to $12 trillion by 2015.
Ng acknowledged concerns over investments by state funds in key sectors such as telecommunications and banks but said Temasek, owned by Singapore's finance ministry, was different.
"We distinguish ourselves by our transparency," he said.
IMPAIRMENT CHARGE
Temasek reported a 29 percent drop in net profit to S$9.1 billion ($6 billion) for its 2006/07 financial year, from S$12.8 billion a year ago, on lower divestment gains and an impairment charge on Thai telecoms firm Shin Corp
Temasek declined to disclose the size of the impairment charge on its Shin stake, but its annual report showed a S$830 million loss from associated companies, which include Shin.
A Temasek-led consortium bought Shin, Thailand's biggest telecoms group, from former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra last year for $3.8 billion. The sale helped spark a prolonged political crisis in Bangkok.
Temasek said it had made S$16 billion of new investments in its 2006/07 financial year, against S$21 billion in the previous year. Last month, the government-owned fund agreed to invest up to 2.1 billion pounds in British bank Barclays Plc
It divested assets of over S$5 billion in the financial year, against S$13 billion a year ago, while its portfolio value rose 35 percent to $108 billion from $80 billion.
"Temasek's investment outlook remains one of caution in light of medium-term geo-economic risks and signs of bubbly market conditions," Temasek Chairman S. Dhanabalan said in the review.
Temasek has expanded aggressively in Asia since 2002 in an effort to improve its long-term investment returns.
It reported a one-year total shareholder return by market value of 27 percent -- compared with a return of 32.6 percent on the city-state's Straits Times Index (STI) <.STI>, and a 20.7 percent return for a benchmark consisting of one third MSCI Singapore, the World, and Asia-Pacific excluding Japan.
Over a 10-year period, its total shareholder return of 8 percent compared with 9.3 percent for STI, and 7.9 percent for the MSCI index.
Temasek -- headed by Ho Ching, the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong -- owns large stakes in many of Singapore's biggest firms, including Singapore Telecommunications
Temasek said that Singapore accounted for 38 percent of its total portfolio at the end of March, down from 44 percent in the previous financial year. Asia ex-Japan accounted for 40 percent of the portfolio, up from 34 percent in the previous year.
Source: Reuters
-------------------------------------
Regards,
Edmund Ng
CEO, President
www.Internet-Empire.com
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