The government just announced a new bunch of property curbs.
Essentially,
1) if you are a citizen, your 3rd property gets taxed an additional 3%
2) if you are a PR, your 2nd property gets taxed an additional 3%
3) if you are a foreigner, your 1st property gets taxed an additional 10%
That the local property market will tank is a forgone conclusion. The question is, by how much?
This move is one of the most drastic I've seen and it looks like it is targeting the foreigners the most. Basically it is telling anyone who isn't a citizen or PR not to buy SG property now. Hence the worst affected will be the high end condos.
The medium-end private properties are next worst hit because they also have got no foreigners to sell their property to, plus the upgraders will now stay away.
The losers are those who bought their property recently or a few months ago at the high. Worst off are the ones who bought the new launches, who might see their property only completed in 2013, 2014; by which time their home values would be maybe 30% off. No home to move into while having to watch the property you bought sink in value. Xianz.
This in turn will definitely affect their loan repayments, especially if the value of their properties fall below their loan amounts! Good luck to this bunch of people. As such I think the market will slide till 2015. Don't forget that alot of new launches will complete around then and by then the market will suffer a glut of properties available too.
The winners (or potential winners) are the ones who are cashrich and can afford to wait till 2013 onwards to find a nice piece of property at a cheap price. Right now, nobody will be in a hurry to buy SG property, because everyone is waiting for the drop to come.
Don't forget it was merely 4-5 years ago that our property market hit it's low, so at this point of the 10-year market cycle, we're halfway there to another low.
Keep your gunpowder dry, people.
Monday, December 12, 2011
3rd Gym Session Of The Season
JUST finished a session of Bodycombat at the gym. I think apart from almost punching myself in the face, almost getting kicked in the face by the lady beside me, and almost smashing my face on the glass panel after slipping on the sweat-drenched floor, I did pretty well to survive.
The only sucky part is the lunchtime gym crowd is very small so it's very easy for the instructor to single you out everytime you fuck things up. And it doesn't help if they behave suspiciously gay; like when he stared at me saying, "You're not bending low enough!". I mean, go single out that fat auntie beside me FFS! She wasn't even bending at all!
Nonetheless I nonchalantly shrug these insinuations off.
If I can make this a weekly habit I'm sure my cholesterol levels will drop significantly.
Now let's see if I can keep this grueling schedule up for another week.
It's time for some salad lunch!
Yummy!
The only sucky part is the lunchtime gym crowd is very small so it's very easy for the instructor to single you out everytime you fuck things up. And it doesn't help if they behave suspiciously gay; like when he stared at me saying, "You're not bending low enough!". I mean, go single out that fat auntie beside me FFS! She wasn't even bending at all!
Nonetheless I nonchalantly shrug these insinuations off.
If I can make this a weekly habit I'm sure my cholesterol levels will drop significantly.
Now let's see if I can keep this grueling schedule up for another week.
It's time for some salad lunch!
Yummy!
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Johnny Evans And The Manchester United Youth Academy
I've been a Manchester United fan for a very long time and one of the reasons why I love this club (besides the fact that we don't know how to lose!) is Sir Alex Ferguson's youth policy.
It's very heartening to follow the club's youths and see some of them eventually come through the ranks and break into the first team. That is the spirit of SAF's "give youth a chance policy", that even at such a big club, young talents are given the opportunity to rise through the ranks.
Since the rise of Fergie's Fledglings in '95, we have seen many others rise through the ranks although never since in such bulk. We've seen John O'Shea, Wes Brown, Darren Fletcher, Johnny Evans all come through and now the emergence of a new class offers alot of hope for the future.
We've got Welbeck, Cleverly breaking through this season and the newest Youth FA Cup winners, Ravel Morrison, Ezekial Fryers, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Paul Pogba, Will Keane, Oliver Gill, Larnell Cole all spoiling for a breakthrough. Have a look here to see what's in store for the future.
But it is also because of this policy that we have come to forgive errors and inexperience from these youngsters. Which brings me to the case of Johnny Evans.
I really liked him when he first broke through the ranks in 2008, deputizing really well for either Vidic or Ferdinand. But after one good year, he has slipped downhill somewhat and now it's like everytime he is in the starting lineup or comes on as a substitute, I get the jitters knowing our defence isn't watertight anymore. He is abit too errorprone and makes alot of bad decisions when pressured.
It's a similar case for David de Gea but I'll leave that rant for another day.
Still, I have a softspot for these academy graduates and I really wish the best for them. This season Evans has had an indifferent start but with Vidic out for the rest of the season, he's really got to step it up. It was an encouraging performance from him yesterday during our 4-1 win over Wolves and hopefully it's something he can keep up.
GGMU!!!
It's very heartening to follow the club's youths and see some of them eventually come through the ranks and break into the first team. That is the spirit of SAF's "give youth a chance policy", that even at such a big club, young talents are given the opportunity to rise through the ranks.
Since the rise of Fergie's Fledglings in '95, we have seen many others rise through the ranks although never since in such bulk. We've seen John O'Shea, Wes Brown, Darren Fletcher, Johnny Evans all come through and now the emergence of a new class offers alot of hope for the future.
We've got Welbeck, Cleverly breaking through this season and the newest Youth FA Cup winners, Ravel Morrison, Ezekial Fryers, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Paul Pogba, Will Keane, Oliver Gill, Larnell Cole all spoiling for a breakthrough. Have a look here to see what's in store for the future.
But it is also because of this policy that we have come to forgive errors and inexperience from these youngsters. Which brings me to the case of Johnny Evans.
I really liked him when he first broke through the ranks in 2008, deputizing really well for either Vidic or Ferdinand. But after one good year, he has slipped downhill somewhat and now it's like everytime he is in the starting lineup or comes on as a substitute, I get the jitters knowing our defence isn't watertight anymore. He is abit too errorprone and makes alot of bad decisions when pressured.
It's a similar case for David de Gea but I'll leave that rant for another day.
Still, I have a softspot for these academy graduates and I really wish the best for them. This season Evans has had an indifferent start but with Vidic out for the rest of the season, he's really got to step it up. It was an encouraging performance from him yesterday during our 4-1 win over Wolves and hopefully it's something he can keep up.
GGMU!!!
Thursday, December 08, 2011
Europa League Is That Way
Its good to laugh at ourselves sometimes...
...especially when the rest of the world is mocking your team's elimination.
Maybe it's a blessing in disguise.
We get to play the kids in Europe and the stronger squad focuses on the league.
Honestly, it doesn't look like we'll win anything this year.
Sigh.
...especially when the rest of the world is mocking your team's elimination.
Maybe it's a blessing in disguise.
We get to play the kids in Europe and the stronger squad focuses on the league.
Honestly, it doesn't look like we'll win anything this year.
Sigh.
Disparity Between UEFA Champions League And Europa League
Winning the UCL is approximately 5-6X better than winning the Europa Cup, excluding TV and marketing rights.
Read all about it here.
Read all about it here.
Out Of The Champions League
My God.
How did we get to such a state I really have no idea.
We just lost to FC Basel 2-1 to get ourselves dumped out of the UCL. And now we even have to suffer the humiliation of playing in the UEFA Europa League with the likes of Man City, Tottenham and Stoke City.
The hurt.
To add insult to injury, our best defender, Vidic, suffered a serious-looking knee injury too. This means the rest of our season is in jeopardy.
I think players like Johnny Evans and Frederico Macheda shouldn't be playing for us anymore.
We need new midfielders, stat!
From a financial POV, this is bad. Even if we won the Europa League, we'd only earn as much as if we got knocked out of the quarterfinals in the UCL.
This is a sad day for all United fans.
Sigh.
The only silver lining now is that our run of games over the next few weeks are relatively easy,but if we cannot even overcome that, then we're going to be trophyless this season.
Also there is alot of young blood in the team. Kids like Smalling, Jones, da Silvas, Welbeck and Cleverly ca only earn from such experiences.
Sigh.
Gonna be a tough few days till Wolves on Saturday.
How did we get to such a state I really have no idea.
We just lost to FC Basel 2-1 to get ourselves dumped out of the UCL. And now we even have to suffer the humiliation of playing in the UEFA Europa League with the likes of Man City, Tottenham and Stoke City.
The hurt.
To add insult to injury, our best defender, Vidic, suffered a serious-looking knee injury too. This means the rest of our season is in jeopardy.
I think players like Johnny Evans and Frederico Macheda shouldn't be playing for us anymore.
We need new midfielders, stat!
From a financial POV, this is bad. Even if we won the Europa League, we'd only earn as much as if we got knocked out of the quarterfinals in the UCL.
This is a sad day for all United fans.
Sigh.
The only silver lining now is that our run of games over the next few weeks are relatively easy,but if we cannot even overcome that, then we're going to be trophyless this season.
Also there is alot of young blood in the team. Kids like Smalling, Jones, da Silvas, Welbeck and Cleverly ca only earn from such experiences.
Sigh.
Gonna be a tough few days till Wolves on Saturday.
Monday, December 05, 2011
High Cholesterol
Ok so like I mentioned, I've just had a routine medical checkup and my cholesterol levels are through the roof.
I mean like through the roof!
Like I posted in a comment on Facebook, there's low, medium, borderline high and high levels of cholesterol. Mine is like just a red picture of Chuck Norris's fist with two exclamation marks!!
This means I REALLY got to cut down on ALL my favourite foods from potato chips, fast food, shelled sea creatures, egg yolk and even steak. Plus I have to eat the stuff that I don't like like oatmeal, cereal, yoghurt, vegetables, fruits, steamed white meat etc.
Arn't we all eating this unhealthily?!
Xianz.
I mean like through the roof!
Like I posted in a comment on Facebook, there's low, medium, borderline high and high levels of cholesterol. Mine is like just a red picture of Chuck Norris's fist with two exclamation marks!!
This means I REALLY got to cut down on ALL my favourite foods from potato chips, fast food, shelled sea creatures, egg yolk and even steak. Plus I have to eat the stuff that I don't like like oatmeal, cereal, yoghurt, vegetables, fruits, steamed white meat etc.
Arn't we all eating this unhealthily?!
Xianz.
Sunday, December 04, 2011
Rain II
It's the monsoon season so thought I'd post something similar.
Anyway I'm hurting so badly from yesterday's sunburn.
Did you know that the rain these days is so bad that alot of vehicles actually turn on their hazard lights while on the road?
Visibility is that bad.
Drive safe this festive period.
Anyway I'm hurting so badly from yesterday's sunburn.
Did you know that the rain these days is so bad that alot of vehicles actually turn on their hazard lights while on the road?
Visibility is that bad.
Drive safe this festive period.
Saturday, December 03, 2011
Rain
It was so sunny till around 3pm today I think I'm totally sunburnt.
And then the skies opened up.
And it hasn't stopped raining ever since!
I'm sure there must be a flood somewhere, and the weather's alot colder lately.
Take care and drink lots of water all!
I expect alot of sick puppies come Monday.
And then the skies opened up.
And it hasn't stopped raining ever since!
I'm sure there must be a flood somewhere, and the weather's alot colder lately.
Take care and drink lots of water all!
I expect alot of sick puppies come Monday.
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Out Of The League Cup
Cui.
Can't believe we lost 1-2 to Crystal Palace in the League Cup quarterfinals.
Yes, we played alot of fringe players and gave some youth players a run out, but still we'd expect to win, given we're playing in Old Trafford at that.
Now I'm just gonna get laughed at for the rest of the year by my English colleague who's a Palace fan. Didn't help that I sent him a list of Palace jokes on Tuesday.
Now it's DDL for our last three games. Surely we'll win at Aston Villa this weekend right?!
Right?!
Can't believe we lost 1-2 to Crystal Palace in the League Cup quarterfinals.
Yes, we played alot of fringe players and gave some youth players a run out, but still we'd expect to win, given we're playing in Old Trafford at that.
Now I'm just gonna get laughed at for the rest of the year by my English colleague who's a Palace fan. Didn't help that I sent him a list of Palace jokes on Tuesday.
Now it's DDL for our last three games. Surely we'll win at Aston Villa this weekend right?!
Right?!
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