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IN A move that is bound to stir controversy, the Government is thinking of giving couples with young children priority when they book HDB flats. A less controversial measure to boost Singapore's declining birth rate: allowing paternity leave, or some form of it. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made these announcements last night when he turned to a perennial rally topic: How to arrest Singapore's total fertility rate, which was a dismal 1.2 last year. The Government is looking at a range of measures, which take in views from a public consultation exercise ahead of the release of the White Paper on population next January. Mr Lee noted that housing issues are now "off the boil" with more flats having been built and many more in the pipeline. "I think that we should give some consideration to giving couples with young kids priority when they book HDB flats," he said. "Firstly it will solve their problem faster. Second

THE huge prime site occupied by Raffles Girls' School (Secondary) could fetch billions of dollars if it is sold once the school moves to new premises in 2018. The school announced the move to Braddell at its Speech Day last Saturday, sparking much speculation about one of the country's choicest pieces of turf. The Ministry of Education owns the approximately 550,000 sq ft site - the size of about six soccer fields - in Anderson Road in District 10. A ministry spokesman said yesterday: "The site would be returned to the Singapore Land Authority and put out for other use after (the school) moves to its new campus from 2018." The site is zoned for education under the 2008 masterplan, but experts say that while it can be retained for this use, the likely option is that it will be converted to residential use. That would also likely involve breaking up the site into bite-size chunks rather than selling the site wholesale due to the huge sums involved,

SINGAPORE: Hypermarket chain Carrefour has announced that it plans to close both its local outlets -- at Suntec City Mall and Plaza Singapura -- by the end of this year. In a press release dated Tuesday morning, the company said: "Carrefour Singapore announces the decision to close its Suntec and Plaza Singapura stores before end of 2012, since expansion and growth perspectives do not allow reaching a leadership position in the medium and long term." The French company, which opened its first store in Singapore in 1997, had previously said in 2010 that it would leave Malaysian, Singaporean and Thai markets. In November 2010, it sold its operations in Thailand -- where it had 42 stores including 34 hypermarkets -- to Thai chain Big C, for an enterprise value of 868 million euros (S$1.36 billion). But in the same month, it put off plans of selling its stores in Singapore and Malaysia, saying it was confident of creating more value single-handedly in Malaysia a

SINGAPORE : Singles and property watchers have welcomed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's call for a review of housing policies for unmarried Singaporeans. They called the move "timely", as prices of resale flats have risen sharply, putting them out of reach for many singles. Market watchers said a challenge will be balancing the government's pro-family stance and catering to the housing needs of a growing group. The number of Singaporeans staying single has increased significantly in the last 10 years. For example, in the 30-34 age group, 21.9 per cent of women and 33.3 per cent of men were singles in 2000. In 2010, the figures rose to 30.6 per cent and 43.1 per cent respectively. Many singles Channel NewsAsia spoke with expressed a desire to live on their own, be it for the privacy or the need for independence. One example is 34-year-old Ms Zeng. Under current rules, she will only be allowed to buy an HDB flat from the resale market when she

SINGAPORE : Property leasing transactions in Singapore hit a record high of S$24.5 million in July, based on data by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). In July, median rents for both landed and non-landed homes also hit a historical high of S$2.81 per square foot per month (psf pm) and S$3.60 psf pm respectively. On a year-on-year basis, median rents for landed homes rose 2 per cent, while median rents for non-landed homes rose 7 per cent. Meanwhile, leasing volume for both non-landed and landed homes rose 11 per cent on-month to 4,717 leases in July 2012. This reflects strong, prevailing demand for landed and non-landed homes. On a year-on-year basis however, total leasing volume fell by 0.7 per cent, closely matching last year's figures. Property consultancy Savills Research said July is traditionally a seasonal peak for the rental market, so leasing transactions are expected to decline thereafter. However, they added that when measured on a ye

Business Times: Mon, Aug 27 RANDOLPH Leow's stock investment philosophy reflects his personality. Not one to take on much risk, the 24-year-old Singapore Management University (SMU) Lee Kong Chian School of Business fourth-year student describes himself as "liking certainty". He believes that starting young, prudently saving and investing in stable blue chips which pay steady dividends is the means to financial freedom. "I usually pick out the market leaders of an industry to invest in, to give me a wider margin of safety," says the finance major. Randolph, who hopes to work in fund management in future, is currently accumulating cash and "waiting for the next crisis", when stock prices will look more attractive. Q: What got you interested in investing? A: I first starting saving at age 10 because I wanted to buy a $5,000 mountain bike. When I finally accumulated that amount, I could not bear to part with the mone