154th: Sporns In the Mood to Spend!

[makapaaa]

154th performing NS again?

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Slump or not, S'poreans in the mood to spend

</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Malls, showflats and car showrooms are packed, but MPs are seeing a different side </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Nur Dianah Suhaimi

</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>





<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->Singapore may be in recession mode but many Singaporeans sure are not.
Every weekend, shopping malls are packed, as are property and car showrooms. The stock market has been busy and discounts offered in the ongoing Great Singapore Sale are attracting hordes of shoppers who merrily tote bags bursting with purchases.
The buoyant mood has caused many to wonder if the recession - which started last year - is over.
Said sales manager Jessica Lui, 38: 'The shopping malls are crowded every day, people are snapping up condo homes and buying cars. I don't think there is a recession in Singapore. Everyone is still spending like there is no tomorrow.'
Following the credit crisis in the United States last year, some economists had forecast a recession the proportions of which have never been seen since the Great Depression of 1929, when the world was plunged into a global recession which lasted 12 years.
While the Government here rolled out various initiatives and programmes to help the unemployed, local businesses braced themselves for the worst.
However, a year on, many feel that the impact on Singapore is not as great as it was first thought to be. The majority of workers here still have jobs, the prices of mass market HDB property are holding steady, and the mood is optimistic.
Business is still booming for many retailers. Shoe retail chain Charles & Keith, for example, will be opening two new stores in Orchard Road in the second half of this year.
Said HSBC economist Robert Prior-Wandesforde: 'The recession in Singapore has proved to be an unusually job-rich one. Even in the first quarter, when GDP was reported as falling more than 10 per cent on the year, there were only 1,000 net job losses.'
Although there were job losses in the manufacturing industry, the construction and service industries had added on jobs.
Nanyang Technological University economist Choy Keen Meng said the impact on the man in the street has not been as severe as economists had expected earlier.
'I personally suspect that the Jobs Credit scheme has worked extremely well in bolstering Singaporeans' confidence and supporting incomes. That's why they are still thronging the shopping malls,' he said.
The government scheme, announced in January, pays for part of a local worker's salary, and is meant to stave off retrenchments.
Property prices have recently risen again. For example, some recent classified advertisements in The Straits Times for units at the Cosmopolitan condominium in River Valley show asking prices of $1,380 per sq ft (psf) to $1,395 psf, compared with asking levels of about $1,250 psf earlier in the year.
Last Wednesday, certificate of entitlement (COE) prices reached an eight-month high due to a combination of higher demand, better sentiment, easier access to loans and fewer COEs.
Bankruptcy figures, too, have remained steady with only 751 individual bankruptcy petitions filed in the first quarter of this year, three petitions fewer than the 754 filed in the first quarter of last year.
Economists say they believe the worst may be over.
Said Dr Choy: 'I do think the recession is over for the real economy. All across the world the economic data has been heartening and private sector forecasters in the US have become discernibly more optimistic about the outlook for US growth in the second half of 2009. If this comes to pass, Singapore will be the first to reap the benefits.'
However, the National Wages Council (NWC) is not celebrating just yet.
At the announcement of the council's wage guidelines last Wednesday, NWC chairman Lim Pin cautioned against expecting a quick economic recovery.
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[makapaaa]

'If you are talking about recovery, you have to ask one fundamental question - where is the recovery coming from?' he asked.
Government figures in April revealed that 12,600 workers here lost their jobs in the first quarter of this year alone, the highest in a decade. Most of them came from the manufacturing sector.
As of March this year, an estimated total of 87,800 residents here were jobless.
In the first four months of this year, 27,200 people sought help from community development councils (CDCs) to find jobs. This is an increase of more than two times from about 13,200 during the same period last year.
Last Tuesday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also cautioned that 'we should not be too hasty to pronounce that the recession has bottomed or that things are getting better'.
Standard Chartered economist Alvin Liew said a possible reason many Singaporeans do not seem to feel there is a downturn, despite the retrenchment figures, is the 'segmented impact' of the recession.
While the manufacturing, financial and airlines industries have been hard hit, other industries are still faring well.
Said Mr Michael Ang, 28, an IT engineer who works in the telecommunications industry: 'I've heard about people losing their jobs in other industries. But as far as I'm concerned, my job is safe.'
MPs The Sunday Times spoke to confirmed that the recession is a bitter reality for many retrenched workers they see at their Meet-the-People sessions.
MP for Hong Kah GRC Alvin Yeo said the number of people asking for aid at his weekly Meet-the-People session has increased from 40 to 60. 'While some have lost their jobs, there are also those who had wage cuts or get less overtime work,' he said.
Dr Lim Wee Kiak, an MP for Sembawang GRC, said he sees at least five or six professionals, managers, executives and technicians coming for help each week.
'These are people who live in five-room and executive flats, who used to earn $3,000 and above. But because they were retrenched and cannot find new jobs, they have to keep coming back for help,' he said.
Said economist Mr Liew: 'People who still have a job and have savings to fall back on may not feel the recession. But not seeing it does not mean it doesn't exist.'
[email protected]
Do you think the recession is over? Send your views to [email protected]
Are you still splurging during this recession? Have your say in straitstimes.com

 

[makapaaa]

'I personally suspect that the Jobs Credit scheme has worked extremely well in bolstering Singaporeans' confidence and supporting incomes. That's why they are still thronging the shopping malls,' he said.

 

[zeroo]

Yes is true..just over these 2 weekends I spent ard $12.6k shopping for clothing, food, entertainment, electronic gudgets, spa, tour package..anyway is free money I earned from stocks market so must return some to the economy for the retailer to increase their sales and revenue