RP chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam (Photo: YT screencapture)
SINGAPORE: Reform Party leader Kenneth Jeyaretnam has been issued a correction direction — his third since July — under the law against fake news. This time the directive follows his comments on social media posts about:
The arrest of 10 foreign nationals in an islandwide anti-money laundering operation
The corruption probe into Transport Minister S. Iswaran and Mr Ong Beng Seng, and
The Ridout Road property rentals by Minister for Law and Home Affairs K. Shanmugam and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan.
Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong issued the instruction under the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA), the Ministry of Law said on Tuesday (August 22).
Mr Jeyaretnam has to put up correction notices on the posts he made on Facebook and X on Aug 18.
Mr Jeyaretnam falsely stated that Singapore arrested 10 foreign nationals on Aug 15 for forgery and money laundering under pressure from China.
“As stated in the police news release on Aug 16, they had identified the suspects through intelligence probes and extensive investigations including the analysis of suspicious transaction reports,” said the Law Ministry.
“These operations and the planning of the arrests had been in the works over many months. They were not at the behest or because of any foreign party.”
The ministry said that no foreign parties were informed of these cases before the arrests.
Mr Jeyaretnam falsely claimed that the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) probe into Mr Iswaran and Mr Ong was also due to foreign pressure.
The CPIB had been investigating a separate matter when it came across information about Mr Iswaran, the ministry explained.
The ministry added these facts on several occasions, including in Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Education Minister Chan Chun Sing’s statements in Parliament on August 2.
Mr Jeyaretnam also falsely said the rental rates paid by Mr Shanmugam and Mr Balakrishnan for 26 and 31 Ridout Road, respectively, were locked in for nine years.
The tenancies are renewable every two or three years, and the rentals are reviewed in light of the prevailing market value, the ministry added.
“When the tenancies of the two properties were up for renewal after the initial three years, a revaluation was carried out by professional valuers to peg the rentals to the prevailing market rate,” the ministry said. “This valuation was based on market comparables.”
Earlier this month, Mr Jeyaretnam was issued a correction notice over comments made on the Ridout Road bungalows on July 27.
Earlier, on July 16, Mr Jeyaretnam was told to put up a correction notice for an article he published on his website, The Ricebowl Singapore, on July 2.
SINGAPORE: Lawyer Lim Tean has been found guilty by a disciplinary tribunal of two charges of grossly improper conduct over the handling of S$30,000 belonging to an ex-client.
Mr Lim was found by the disciplinary tribunal to have been seeking to use the money in question to pay not only his fees but also the fees of a creditor of the former client. He is said to have intentionally kept a cheque for S$30,000 that he received from a former client.
Reports of the finding against Mr Lim, who also heads the opposition party People’s Voice, came to light on Tuesday (Aug 22) when they were made public.
The matter surfaced after a complaint was made by Mr Lim’s former client, Mr Suresh Kumar A Jesupal. Mr Lim had represented Mr Suresh Kumar in a motor vehicle accident claim on October 2018.
The following year, the client was awarded S$50,000 upon issuing a judgment in the case.
Willy Tay Chambers, the solicitors for AXA Insurance, paid S$30,000 to Carson Law Chambers, Mr Lim’s firm, on Nov 14, 2019.
But the previous day, Mr Suresh Kumar discharged Mr Lim after hiring a different law firm, Joseph Chen & Co, to represent him. This firm sent Carson Law Chambers a letter informing them of the change that same day (Nov 13).
Mr Lim said, however, that he only found out that Mr Suresh Kumar had replaced his law firm on Nov 14. On the same day, Mr Lim deposited the cheque into Carson Law Chambers’ office account, not its client account.
A third charge of misappropriating the amount paid due to failing or neglecting to pay it to the client had also been brought by the Law Society of Singapore against Mr Lim, but this charge was later withdrawn when Mr Suresh Kumar did not provide the necessary evidence.
CNA reported Mr Lim as saying that Mr Suresh Kumar kept on meeting with the lawyers at Carson Law Chambers even after he informed them that he had changed lawyers and that based on a previous arrangement, Mr Suresh Kumar was to first pay proceeds of the judgment sum to his creditor, as well as to Mr Lim.
However, the tribunal found that despite being fully aware that he had been replaced as Mr Suresh Kumar’s lawyer by Nov 14, 2019, he still deposited the cheque into Carson Law Chambers’ office account.
It said that Mr Lim’s actions were not “accidental or inadvertent but deliberate” and that he did not show evidence of “what actually happened to the money thereafter”.
The tribunal also rejected Mr Lim’s claim that not depositing the cheque from Mr Suresh Kumar into the client’s account had been a “mere oversight,” adding that clients’ money needs to be treated with “utmost care.”
It found it “difficult to believe” that Mr Lim, who has practised law for three decades, “did not know of the requirement to have a client account, or that he had to pay client’s money into this account”.
The Court of Three Judges, the highest disciplinary body for lawyers, will later decide if Mr Lim will face disciplinary action. /TISG
SINGAPORE: A video of presidential election candidate Tan Kin Lian being garlanded by his supporters has reportedly been flagged as inappropriate content on Facebook, sparking questions about whether there is an ongoing internet brigade (IB) campaign to discredit Mr Tan – the only non-establishment figure who has qualified for the presidential race.
Facebook has reportedly requested that the video be removed, but Singaporeans responding online have said nothing inappropriate is being shown in the clip. The short video was published on Facebook last Saturday (19 Aug) by Kumaran Pillai, the publisher of The Independent Singapore. The video captured Mr Tan Kin Lian during one of his walkabouts and shows Mr Tan being garlanded and welcomed by a group of supporters.
Mr Pillai said on Monday (21 Aug) that someone had flagged the video for inappropriate content and that Facebook had asked him to take the video down.
Several commenters online said Mr Pillai should not comply with Facebook’s request as they found nothing inappropriate with the video. A number of Singaporeans also suggested that the person who flagged the video may be a pro-establishment individual.
Some asked whether Facebook should issue takedown requests without reviewing the content first, while others said such incidents are common during elections.
Mr Tan Kin Lian, who formerly led NTUC Income for decades, is among three who have qualified for the presidential election, which is set for 1 Sept. He faces competition from former Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and ex-GIC chief economist Ng Kok Song.
All three presidential hopefuls have made promises of independence but Mr Tan Kin Lian is the only prospective candidate who has been openly critical of Government policies, championing the common man, over the years.
Mr Tan, a regular figure at the Speakers’ Corner, has previously criticised the Government’s changes to the CPF withdrawal rule, the MediShield scheme, and the issues at SMRT. He has also spoken up for Singaporeans who lost their savings in the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008 and, more recently, the Hyflux collapse.
Interestingly, Mr Tan was formerly a member of the governing People’s Action Party (PAP) for 30 years. He served as the party’s branch secretary at Marine Parade for three years and was picked by ex-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in 1977 to test a pilot scheme for setting up block committees, now known as Residents’ Committees (RC).
He left the party in 2008 due to disagreement with the party’s value system. He has not joined any other political parties but has been embraced as the “true independent” by a number of opposition parties.
Mr Tan Kin Lian has put himself forth as an alternative candidate for voters in the upcoming election. He has promised to collaborate with the Government in helping Singaporeans with the cost of living issues, affordable housing and job security if elected.
SINGAPORE: A video of macaques nimbly climbing down the side of an HDB block at Jalan Besar went certifiably viral over the weekend, getting over 2 million views on TikTok.
The long-tailed primates were awe-inspiring as they easily scaled the building to the point of inspiring comparisons with Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible.
In the video, uploaded by Ms Victoria Loh (@ladyv_victoria), a woman can be heard saying “Wow” over and over again as the macaques, without seemingly having anything to hold on to, effortlessly make their way down the side of the block, which has been identified as being located at Block 633 Veerasamy Road.
There have been over 2,800 comments on the video, and one popular one was when a TikTok user asked, “Can you put the mission impossible sound?”
In fairness, the monkeys do look like they’ve just carried out a heist.
“My bad my bad! Cannot redo sia 😅,” wrote Ms Loh.
A highly-amused Ms Loh also called it “better” than SCDF training.
“Goodness how many duplicates of my brother are there,” another joked.
“The one sliding down be like: weeeee,” another TikTok user chimed in.
One pointed out, “This is why you don’t leave your doors open on the balcony. You never know who will enter your apartment looking for food.”
When a commenter noted that Ms Lohhad so many “wows,” she said she feared the monkeys would jump on her.
According to the International Union of the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, most macaque species are listed as vulnerable to critically endangered.
An article on the NParks site says, “The long-tailed macaque is the only commonly seen species of monkey in Singapore. Its population numbers some 1,500 individuals. Most dwell in and on the fringes of our rainforest nature reserves – the Bukit Timah and the Central Catchment Nature Reserves. They also occupy parks such as Bukit Batok Nature Park, Yishun Park and Admiralty Park, as well as Sisters Islands and Pulau Ubin.”
SINGAPORE: Former presidential hopeful Mohamed Salleh Marican has come out in support of presidential candidate Ng Kok Song. Mr. Salleh, who couldn’t qualify to run for the presidency in 2017 when President Halimah Yacob was elected unopposed, is on the team of the proposer, seconder, and assenters supporting Mr. Ng’s team.
Mr Salleh, one of the eight assenters, praised Mr Ng in a short video released by the ngkokseng official Instagram account.
“What I would like the young people to understand is they were born when Singapore was already in the first world.
What we understand is that things can easily go wrong. So it’s very, very important that we choose a president who’s truly independent because we never know when a crisis is going to take place.
You can see what’s happening in Israel. The ruling party wants to change the system to have more control over the courts. Look at Thailand. The winning party in a so-called democracy… the leader of the party cannot be the prime minister.
You see how dangerous it is for the ruling party when they are in power, especially when they control parliament with a majority; they can easily make changes.
This is why the independent president is very critical.
It is very risky, highly unadvisable, for a member of the ruling party to be the president of Singapore.
So far, we are lucky. Nothing serious happened in the past. So if you want to think properly about what independence is, it can only be tested in a crisis. So far, there is no real crisis to test the president of the past.
Let’s say in the future if our own prime minister is suspected of corruption, then there is a situation whereby the independence of the president is most crucial.”
Mr Salleh adds:
“I strongly believe Kok Song has many qualities. This is a man of high intellect determined to succeed in life, and he has succeeded. He is the story of the Singapore dream. He has gone through many recessions in the past, running the hundreds of billions of dollars of our reserves. He has risen to the rank of chief investment officer of GIC. On top of that, he has been given the Meritorious Service Medal by the Government for his work in GIC.
But best of all, he’s a very nice man, very approachable, a good listener. These are the qualities that we need in a president. We cannot have a president who thinks of himself or herself as belonging to the upper class and looks down on the ordinary Singaporean. Kok Song is a man that I can see can easily relate to the ordinary person. That is the reason why I feel that he should be our next president.”
Incidentally, Mr Salleh also praised Madam Halimah Yacob before she became President.
Calling her “a good candidate”, Salleh said, “Whoever is the government candidate will be my opponent but if you ask me who I prefer not to contest against, it will be Madam Halimah.” He added, “She has a good reputation and is popular. Moreover, as a woman, she has one comparative advantage and that is, women will vote for her.”
Mr. Salleh, founder, and chief executive of Second Chance Properties, failed to qualify as a presidential candidate in 2017 for the same reason entrepreneur George Goh did not make the cut this year: Candidates from the private sector must have served as the chief executive of a company with at least $500 million in shareholder equity.
Mr Ng, the 75-year-old former chief investment officer of GIC, who is running against former senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and former NTUC Income chief Tan Kin Lian for the Singapore presidency, announced his team of proposer, seconder, and eight assenters on Monday (August 21) on the eve of Nomination Day.
Here is the complete list, including information provided by Mr Ng’s media team.
Proposer
Mr Quah Wee Ghee, co-founder of global asset management company Avanda Investment Management with Mr Ng Kok Song. Mr Wee is also the former president of Public Markets at GIC and served on the boards of OCBC and Bank of Singapore.
Seconder
Dr Carol Tan, a specialist at The Good Life Medical Centre. Dr. Tan has been involved in licensing and setting up standards and the financing framework for community services, including nursing homes, community hospitals, daycare centers, hospice, and home help services.
Assenters
Justice of Peace Ameerali Abdeali;
Fullerton Fund Management chairman Ho Tian Yee;
Former Montfort School Management Committee chairman Chua Cher Choon;
Second Chance Properties founder and chief executive Mohamed Salleh Marican;
Philanthropist Margaret Chan;
Association of Muslim Professionals founding member Abdul Hamid Abdullah;
Tjo Hans, who has taught at the Faculty of Law at the National University of Singapore since 1990; and
DP Architects chairman Angelene Chan.
Mr Ng has been praised by not only his team members. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s wife and former Temasek Holdings CEO Ho Ching lauded Mr Ng’s contributions to Singapore wealth management after he announced his bid for the presidency on July 19.
“He thought then that Singapore could be a wealth management hub for Asia and believed in equipping our people with the right training,” she wrote in a Facebook post on August 13.
“The President acts as the guardian of Past Reserves,” says the President of the Republic of Singapore website, outlining the President’s duties. The President’s responsibilities extend to “all fiscal matters touching on Singapore’s reserves”.
SINGAPORE — Tan Kin Lian is backed by prominent opposition figures in the 2023 Presidential Election. His team consists of; proposer Tan Jee Say who contested the 2020 General Election with the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), and his seconder is Lim Tean, leader of Peoples Voice (PV). He has appointed Prabu Ramachandran of PV as his principal election agent.
Facing a three contest, Tan Kin Lian has urged Singaporeans to support him for the presidency if they desire an independent president with no ties to the establishment. The other presidential aspirants are former Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam and ex-GIC chief investment officer Ng Kok Siong.
Among those supporting Tan Kin Lian for the 2023 Presidential Election is Dr Michael Fang, a PV candidate at the Jalan Besar GRC. Dr Fang is a volunteer with Tan’s campaign team and assisting with the logistical preparation for the presidential election.
He believes that the non-establishment supporters and those still undecided about who to vote for should consider rallying behind Tan to see a president who actively listens to ground feedback.
“Alternative parties and the middle ground voters should unite behind Tan Kin Lian who is an independent candidate in this presidential election. Tharman and Kok Song have strong ties to the establishment, but Tan Kin Lian has left the NTUC Income for about 15 years,” shared Dr Fang with The Independent Singapore.
“The focus of the voters must be on the accountability and transparency of the reserves which are of the interest to the public. Furthermore, Tan Kin Lian has been raising on several issues that matter to Singaporeans,” added Dr Fang.
PRESIDENT A UNIFYING FIGURE, BUT THE OPPOSITION DIVIDED
However, it is not simply a matter of opposition supporters gravitating toward a non-establishment candidate. This can be observed in the following example, where two members of the same party hold different views.
At a recent public forum, seasoned politician Jufrie Mahmood suggested to Dr Tan Cheng Bock, the chairman of the Progress Singapore Party, that he should consider endorsing Tan in the upcoming presidential election. Jufrie, currently with the SDP, also disregarded a suggestion from an audience to cast a spoiled vote to express their dissatisfaction with George Goh’s failure to obtain his certificate of eligibility, which ruled him out of the presidential race.
“I beg to disagree with your views that we should boycott the election. The PAP’s skin is too thick. They don’t care about your boycott. What we must do now is to choose who we should support. Either Ng Kok Song or Tan Kin Lian” expressed Jufrie during the Friday Conversation event on Aug 18 at the Palms Bistro.
Jufrie mentioned that the former NTUC Income CEO Tan is independent and has the courage to raise important issues. Therefore, he urged Dr Tan and all those at the forum not to squander this golden opportunity, considering there are only three candidates, and that they should carefully consider whom they should support.
“Tan Jee Say has endorsed Tan Kin Lian. Both of them have almost 30%. What we need now is an endorsement from Dr Tan Cheng Bock. If you do that, the game is over. Bye-bye Mr Tharman. We must bring this political shock to the PAP that their candidates can be defeated. It will break the psychological barrier of the people that the PAP is not invulnerable,” added the political veteran.
There were four candidates in the 2011 presidential election. Tan Kin Lian received the lowest votes at 4.91%, while Tan Jee Say secured 25.04%. At the top, it was a closely contested race, with Tony Tan emerging as the winner with 35.20% of the votes. Coming in a close second was Dr Tan Cheng Bock, who garnered 34.85% of the votes.
While Jufrie is attempting to persuade Dr Tan and others to support Tan Kin Lian for the presidency, his party member, Abdul Salim, has decided to spoil his vote on polling day, which is scheduled for Sept 1.
In a social media post, Salim shared that he had received multiple messages encouraging opposition supporters to unite behind Tan Kin Lian. However, Salim does not believe in this mindset as he adopts a different approach for the presidential election, which he considers distinct from a general election.
“Personally for me, during the Presidential Election, I do not vote along party lines just because I am in the opposition. I only vote for the candidate that I see and strongly believe can bring Singapore forward. That’s why back in 2011 PE, I volunteered and voted for Dr Tan Cheng Bock as I strongly believe that he will make a very good President for Singapore,” expressed Salim on his Facebook.
Therefore, Salim is advocating for a symbolic blank vote, which he believes will send a message to the authorities that such an action would be seen as a vote for businessman Goh who failed to obtain his certificate of eligibility to contest the presidential election.
“I will not vote for a particular candidate just because I am in the opposition neither will I vote for someone who is there just because he wanted to see his good friend win the Presidency.
For me now, casting a blank vote is a vote for George Goh! To my fellow Singaporeans and fellow supporters of George Goh, let us make our voice loud and clear. A Blank Vote Cast Is A Vote For George Goh!” explained Salim, who debuted at the general election in 2006 with the Workers’ Party at Ang Mo Kio GRC.
SINGAPORE — Singapore Aquatics president Mark Chay recently took to social media to share details of a tea reception held at the Istana, hosted by outgoing Singapore President Halimah Yacob to honour the contributions by the previous batch of Nominated Members of Parliament (NMP).
Chay was present alongside seven others; Abdul Samad Wahab, Janet Ang, Cheng Hsing Yao, Prof Hoon Hian Teck, Prof Koh Lian Pin, Dr Shahira Abdullah, and Dr Tan Yia Swam. Only Joshua Thomas Raj continued to serve as an NMP from this batch. They were appointed on 21 Jan 2021, and their term ended in July this year.
President Halimah, elected unopposed on 13 Sept 2017, will soon end her term as the nation goes to the polls on Sep 1 to elect a new president. There are three presidential hopefuls, former Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, ex-GIC chief investment officer Ng Kok Song, and former NTUC Income CEO Tan Kin Lian.
“Thank you, Madam President Halimah Yacob, for your unwavering dedication and service to the people of Singapore. As your term will soon come to an end, I wanted to express my deepest gratitude for your leadership and the tremendous impact you’ve made during your time in office,” posted Chay on his Facebook page.
Chay added that it was an honour to be invited to the Istana and have the opportunity to meet the President. The tea session with past NMPs will surely be an unforgettable experience.
“Being able to discuss our experiences in Parliament and exchange views on the duties of Members of Parliament was truly enlightening. What stood out the most during our conversation was your candid sharing about your term as President and what it meant to you. Your honesty and graciousness left a lasting impression on me. Your dedication is truly commendable,” added Chay, who represented the sports fraternity during his tenure in parliament.
Photo: Facebook screengrab / mark.chay
Among the issues raised by Chay while he was a parliamentarian is the need to protect the needs of national sports training dates at the Sports Hub after the government took over the management of the facility under Kallang Alive Sports Management in Dec 2022.
Nine NMPs were presented with the Instruments of Appointment by President Halimah at the Istana on Jul 24, and they took their Oath during the Aug Parliamentary session. Serving his second term as an NMP is Joshua Raj, a partner at Wee Swee Teow LLC and currently serving as president of the Security Association Singapore.
The newly appointed NMPs are Chandradas Usha Ranee (co-founder of Plural Art Mag), Chua Tiang Choon Keith (Vice President of Singapore Anglican Community Services), Mark Lee Kean Phi (CEO of Sing Lun Holdings Pte Ltd), Ong Hua Han (Asst VP, Deutsche Bank AG), Parekh Nimil Rajnikant (Chairperson of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce), Assoc Prof Razwana Begum (Head of Public Safety & Security Programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences), See Jinli (Director of the NTUC Freelancers and Self-employed Unit), Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi (Consultant Psychiatrist at Starfish Psychiatry Pte Ltd).
Welcoming the new batch of NMPs to Parliament, Indranee Rajah, Leader of the House and member of the Special Select Committee, said, “We are pleased to welcome to this House the new cohort of NMPs who have made significant contributions to society and excelled in their respective domains. We look forward to their participation which will add to the spectrum of views and experiences 2 shared in the House. I would also like to thank all applicants for their time and interest. The Committee is heartened by their passion and enthusiasm to contribute to the betterment of Singapore.”
SINGAPORE: In a recent episode of Pass the Power podcast, Paige Parker talked to Workers’ Party MP Jamus Lim (Sengkang GRC) about education, as the MP is, by day, an Associate Professor of Economics at ESSEC Business School.
Ms Parker and her husband moved to Singapore in 2007 because they wanted their two daughters to grow fluent in Mandarin. She asked Assoc Prof Lim about his thoughts on Singapore’s educational system, being a firm believer in it herself. Compared to the United States, where she is from, students in Singapore perform at “an incredibly high level.”
“Where I’m from, the people can’t do multiplication; they can’t do noun-verb agreement,” Ms Parker said. “So I think the rigor and the level of education that’s demanded of students here, I’m all for it.”
Assoc Prof Lim acknowledged her points but added that Singapore’s educational system does not work well for everyone.
For students who are a neurodivergent, who are “a little different,” or are late bloomers, “the system doesn’t draw out the best in you.”
While many Singaporeans have excelled in their fields, they don’t have the same “flair or creative spirit” that characterizes students from other systems.
Ms Parker recounted that as a child, her mother did not push her as hard as she could have, whereas now, when her daughters score 98 out of 100 on tests, she’s the kind of mum who grills them on why they missed two points.
Assoc Prof Lim said his mum was a tiger mum as well, but added that some children might not have it in them to get perfect grades, no matter how hard they try.
“They need to know that they’re just as valued and loved,” he said.
When asked about a memorable incident from his schooling days, Assoc Prof Lim told her that he has been—and still is—a troublemaker.
“One of my teachers decided I would be less disruptive if he put me in the trash bin. So in I went, apparently I reveled in being in the trash bin. I was very happy. I was still able somehow to distract people while I was in it.”
“This is giving me Sesame Street vibes,” said Ms Parker, laughing.
“There you go,” the MP said. “And I do like Oscar (the Grouch).”
A stroke of brilliance from a Primary 3 teacher made Assoc Prof Lim the leader of fellow troublemakers in class, significantly impacting him. She brought out the leadership and competitiveness in him and his other classmates, some of whom have had very successful careers.
He added that it would be good for teachers to have the flexibility to allow students to blossom at their own pace.
SINGAPORE: Mr Anthony Tan, the co-founder and CEO of multi-hyphenate company Grab, admitted in an interview earlier this year that he was born into privilege. However, when it comes to oneupmanship with his rivals, he says he can brawl with the best of them.
The best example is perhaps what happened with Uber in South East Asia. Grab and Uber went head-to-head in many parts of the region some years ago until Grab went ahead in 2018 and acquired Uber’s South East Asian operations in the largest-ever deal at the time.
Uber received no cash from the transaction, getting a 27.5 per cent stake in Grab, and its CEO, Mr Dara Khosrowshahi, joined Grab’s Board of Directors instead.
In an interview with TIME magazine, published on Aug 20, Mr Tan explains how being hyper-local in focus gave Grab the edge over Uber.
“I remember when we were competing against Uber—and Dara [Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO] is my boy, I have mad respect—he said, ‘What differentiates you from us?’ at an Uber town hall in San Francisco. You know, we fought for many years, we bought them. I said, ‘when you guys launched, Uber Ice Cream—so cool. But imagine here [in the heat] with ice cream in a car. You put ice cream in a car, it arrives within seven minutes. You are going to have many flavors in the trunk of the car.’”
He then said that, compared with Uber, Grab started GrabDurian, adding that he knew the fruit well because his father had a durian estate.
“What we did was we launched GrabDurian. The king of fruit—we are very proud of our durian. We sell 30 to 40 tonnes. Before we even started food, we started it as a marketing campaign. The best part is—no smell.
[It’s in a] sealed bag. Your car is clean. It comes super fast. And everyone in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, you name it, everybody loves durian.
That’s the local understanding. Ice cream is a global thing, durian is a Southeast Asian thing. How do I know durian? My father had a durian estate. I used to go and pick durians for him.” /TISG
The price of a COE should be a major consideration for any prospective car owner in Singapore. Given the average cost of COE in Singapore, there are times when it’s possible to pay more for the COE than for your car itself. As a result, it’s helpful to have a general idea of what people are paying for them, especially as you consider what reserve price you’ll need to pay to succeed in the bidding process.
It’s also just as important to understand what drives changes in COE prices. In the following guide, we compare the average price of COEs in 2020 with prices from past years and outline the primary factors that determine the cost of COEs.
The following graph shows how the average COE price has changed over the past decade. As of 17 May 2023, the average cost of COEs was $92,000 for Category A, $113,034 for Category B and $125,000 for Category E vehicles. This signals a tapering of demand for new cars, with a 8.91% decrease for Category A vehicles and a 5.33% decrease in Category B vehicles.
Factors affecting COE prices
COE premiums are affected by changes in the supply and demand of COEs. Granted, it’s not easy to predict with a high degree of certainty what will happen to COE prices in the future, as they fluctuate from month to month. However, having an awareness of the main factors that tend to affect COE premiums will help you to spot trends and make well-timed, smart decisions.
Supply Side
One of the biggest factors affecting COE prices is the supply of COEs available. The LTA regulates the number of cars on the road in Singapore, and when the LTA increases vehicle quotas, the supply of COEs increases and this applies a downward pressure on their price. Of the various factors that influence the vehicle quota, one of the most important things for you to pay attention to is the number of vehicle deregistrations. This number is highly variable and, even better, can be predicted based on publicly available data.
When the vehicle quota was raised in 2016 and 2017, there was a high number of vehicles being deregistered. For the COEs for cars sold prior to 2010, their certifications have now expired after 10 years. This means a large amount of COEs became available leading up to 2020.*
The table below displays the number of new cars aged less than 1 year from 2012 to 2022, demonstrating the high car sales from 2016 to 2017 compared to following years. Though some owners of these cars chose to renew their COEs on these 10-year-old vehicles, the vast majority did not, resulting in higher car deregistration. In response to a rise in car deregistration, the LTA has increased COE quotas to control the population of cars.
In tandem, there was a large drop in COE premiums and new cars in 2018 after the LTA enforced a zero percent growth rate policy in order to control the motor vehicle population.
Demand for COEs among consumers also plays a significant factor into the prices of COEs. Higher demand drives up COE premiums, whereas lower demand drives them down. There are a number of factors that influence demand that you should pay attention to.
Economic Conditions
Generally speaking, when the economy isn’t doing well, demand tends to be lower. This is because for COEs to be in demand, people need to be buying cars. During bad economic times, fewer people do. Singapore is currently experiencing a slowdown in economic growth, and the value of the Singapore dollar has fallen. With a weaker dollar in Singapore, imported cars become less affordable, which would tend to have a negative effect on car sales — and demand for COEs.
Interest rates play a role in this regard as well. Due to high car prices, the majority of Singaporeans take out car loans to buy their vehicles. When interest rates are high, people are disincentivized to take out loans, which has a negative effect on car sales and demand for COEs.
At present, the average cost of COE premiums have been soaring. This increase has been attributed to the combination of higher demand for vehicles as the economy opens up during the tail’s end of the COVID-19 pandemic and the decreasing quota numbers, which has led to high competition and even higher premium rates.
Table C: Ratio of Demand to Supply of Cat A COEs
Year
COE Quota
Bids
Ratio of Bids to Quota
2013
8,534
16,960
199%
2014
12,230
21,104
173%
2015
32,867
48,741
148%
2016
48,734
73,962
152%
2017
45,237
61,159
135%
2018
38,872
53,966
138%
2019
32,846
45,730
139%
2020
19,403
29,675
153%
2021
19,309
26,835
139%
2022
13,179
18,512
140%
Government Regulations
Another factor that can affect demand for COEs is the passage of new government regulations, such as emission standards. For example, Singapore has implemented more stringent and extensive emission standards under the new Vehicular Emissions Scheme (VES) that took into effect in 2018. These regulations, which will impose tax surcharges on more models and disqualify more from tax rebates than previously, will apply upward pressure on overall car prices. Higher car prices tend to have a negative effect on car sales and COE demand. We saw this happen in 2018 as COE premiums dropped throughout the year as buyers waited to see how much further premiums would decline.
At the same time, other government regulations may play minor roles in COE prices. For instance, in 2018, the LTA reduced the vehicle growth rate to zero. This will remain 0% until January 31st, 2025. This means that the number of new cars allowed on the roads has to match the number of cars that were deregistered that year. However, because the COE quota is determined by deregistrations, it was predicted not to have a large effect on COE quotas.
If you’re thinking about buying a car within the next year or two, it would be a good idea to keep an eye on how consumers, car dealerships and automakers react and to find out if the models you’re interested in will be affected.
Regardless if you are thinking of buying a new car or renewing the COE on your existing car, having comprehensive car insurance is not only mandatory but important to ensure you and your loved ones are well protected while on the roads. For the best deals, check out our round up of Best Cheap Car Insurance in Singapore.
Footnotes
In 2016, roughly 27% of cars turning 10 years old had their COEs renewed; as of February, 2017, about 32% have. This reflects a huge increase in the number of people who are choosing to renew COEs rather than deregister their cars as they turn 10 years old.
