Indian FT: Thank you Singapore. I luv u!

[makapaaa]

<TABLE id=msgUN cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top>Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Indian FT: Thank you Singapore. I luv u!</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>

Subscribe </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=msgtable cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="96%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=msg vAlign=top><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgbfr1 width="1%"> </TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0><TBODY><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgF noWrap align=right width="1%">From: </TD><TD class=msgFname noWrap width="68%">kojakbt22 <NOBR>

</NOBR> </TD><TD class=msgDate noWrap align=right width="30%">Oct-25 4:49 am </TD></TR><TR class=msghead><TD class=msgT noWrap align=right width="1%" height=20>To: </TD><TD class=msgTname noWrap width="68%">ALL <NOBR></NOBR></TD><TD class=msgNum noWrap align=right> (1 of 25) </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgleft width="1%" rowSpan=4> </TD><TD class=wintiny noWrap align=right>1759.1 </TD></TR><TR><TD height=8></TD></TR><TR><TD class=msgtxt><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=padlrt8 colSpan=2>From tenant to owner
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Rising rentals forced Indian national Nataraj E. Shanmugam to buy a flat in Sengkang where he lives with his wife Sumithra and son Karthigeyan. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- story content : start -->IT HAS been more than a month since Indian national Nataraj E. Shanmugam moved into his new five-room flat in Sengkang with his family.
'Even today, I can't believe I own this flat,' says the 36-year-old project manager for Citibank.
When he arrived in Singapore from Chennai, India, to work eight years ago, he never dreamed he would some day own a property here.
He used to rent HDB flats but was forced to reconsider his options when monthly rents escalated on the back of last year's property boom.
The monthly $850 he paid three years ago for a three-room flat in Bedok jumped to $1,200 last year. And when his landlord jacked the amount up to $1,800 at the beginning of this year, Mr Shanmugam decided that buying made more sense.
After all, Singapore permanent residents who are married are eligible to buy HDB resale flats.
<!-- show media links starting at 7th para -->He married his homemaker wife Sumithra in India in 2002; she is also now a permanent resident.
After looking at a few locations, he paid $395,000 for a five-room flat in Sengkang East Way, including a cash payment of $15,000 to the seller over the valuation of the flat.
'I appreciate that there are so many facilities and amenities around, especially for my son,' says the father of two-year-old Karthigeyan.
What surprised him was how affordable it was for a sole breadwinner like him to buy a home.
His monthly home loan payment is $1,500, the bulk of which is taken care of by his CPF.
In India, home for him was a house on the outskirts of Chennai. It used to take an hour or more to travel to the city.
Today, it takes him just 25 minutes to get from home to his office in Suntec City.
His wife takes only two minutes to walk to Compass Point for the family's shopping and for recreational activities for their son.
The family makes regular trips to the library and the swimming pool at Sengkang's sports complex.
They have also made friends with their immediate neighbour, a 'friendly Chinese family', says Mr Shanmugam.
He intends to raise his son in Singapore, which he feels is a 'great place for children'.
But some day, he hopes to move back to India. 'Home will always be home to me, so I want to return there at some point in my life. 'When I do, I'll rent out my HDB flat and this will be a good long-term property investment for me.'
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>[email protected]

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[DIVISION1]

It is good to see foreign talent loving Singapore.

 

[Neh_Neh_Pok]

I think they love the pratas here, sinky pratas got more variety than those in India

 

[Neh_Neh_Pok]

It is good to see foreign talent loving Singapore.

Cannot blame them, here got more lights can see them abit clearer in the night

 

[myfoot123]

The truth is, he will return home after kicking sinkies in the ass. Will his son serve NS? I am sure he will plan in such a way that once his son reached certain eligible age, the whole family will evacuate. Lets face the fact that NS is a waste of time for FT and they will never regard Singapore as their home. You think he will consider buying flat if the rent remain cheap? From the text, he has no choice but forced to buy pigeon hole and hope to reap back by renting it out. Sorry lah, Sengkang is never a choiced town in Singapore.

<TABLE id=msgUN cellSpacing=3 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD id=msgUNsubj vAlign=top>Coffeeshop Chit Chat - Indian FT: Thank you Singapore. I luv u!</TD><TD id=msgunetc noWrap align=right>[B]But some day, he hopes to move back to India. 'Home will always be home to me, so I want to return there at some point in my life. [/B][B]'When I do, I'll rent out my HDB flat and this will be a good long-term property investment for me.' [/B]
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>[EMAIL="[email protected]"][email protected][/EMAIL]

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[popdod]

Very common liao.

Ah-tiong start buying HDB houses and rent to malaysian...while they head back to china. Earning the rental fees...

Isn't it wonderful?
Our HDB flats are in demand now.

:o :o

 

[singveld]

i hope the property price collapse
and he have negative equity
and lost his job and cannot pay hdb and they take away the flat.

work in bank. soon bank have to cut staff.

down with FT.

 

[GoldenPeriod]

another ah neh from citibank.

when that ah neh CEO took over in citi, suddenly all stuffed with ah nehs

 

[vamjok]

i see the face of a future ns slave

 

[NissanViP]

It is good to see foreign talent loving Singapore.

You seems heading into international blowjob business.
When the day comes, you will voluntarily blowjob for every singaporean dickhead.

 

[makapaaa]

It is good to see foreign talent loving Singapore.

Better to see the spawns of the likes of clintonxxx, cassyyy, divzzz and myo#### running dogs having to pay exorbitant rentals to these FTrash and serve NS to protect them x years down the road?

 

[butoh6050]

His wife looks like a man!

 

[i_am_belle]

looks like makapa is busy, so i shall do the cut & paste ...

PRC PRs having good life in singapore, thronging travel fairs & making travel plans ...

from ST 27/10/2008 -

DEMAND for year-end travel is still strong, if the crowds who turned up at two travel promotion events this weekend are anything to go by.
There to scout for possible travel packages, most said the fact that the Singapore economy has shrunk for two consecutive quarters had little or no impact on their travel plans.

A few said, however, that they were watching their budgets ahead of tighter times in the coming year.

More than 10,000 people thronged the Chan Brothers anniversary fair at the Suntec convention centre concourse yesterday. Those who made the decision to take a holiday bought up $5 million in tour packages.

At the Suntec City Mall, a smaller-scale roadshow by Dynasty Travel was also crowded, with about 4,000 turning up over the weekend and $2million in travel packages sold.

The weakening of the Australian and New Zealand currencies were trigger factors for the bargain-hunters.

Chan Brothers senior marketing communications executive Jane Chang said inquiries about tours to Australia had doubled in the last two weeks. She said of local travellers: 'They react quite fast. With the Australian dollar having dropped from $1.30 to be almost on par with the Singapore dollar, they stand to get quite a lot of savings.'

Friends Jordane Lee, 31, a fashion buyer, and Gwen Low, 40, an administrative officer, said they were keen on Australia. Ms Lee said: 'The weather now is very good. The currency is also very attractive.'

Many said they had not felt the impact of the economic downturn yet.

Homemaker Mary Poh, 47, looking at the crowds at the booths in amazement, said: 'Economy not doing well? I don't believe it. I am quite alarmed by the number of people who have turned up.'

But hints of the shadow cast by the global financial credit crunch did show up here and there.

Engineer Alex Liu and his wife, administrative officer Jane Shao, in their 40s, did not have tight holiday budgets in the past, but are restricting themselves to $2,000 for their family of three for a trip in January.

Others, like Mr Wu Shi Xin, 35, want to travel before a full-blown recession sets in. The engineer said: 'If I don't go this year, I probably won't in the next two years.'

Dynasty Travel's general manager for outbound travel Juliana Gan said Japan, Korea and Taiwan were popular, though people were also heading for Europe and Australia because of favourable currency exchange rates.

Asked about next year, most travellers said they had not made plans and that they would keep an eye on the economy. A full recession would not stop them from going overseas, but it might make them scale back their plans.

Engineer Shen Jian, 45, who will take a 15-day jaunt through Europe with his son next month, said: 'Maybe we'll do short-distance travelling for next year.'