V RAFFLES P^^^B>4!ONVEIISIIIIIIN if' Robin Tbmlin's full If repertoire. MBE 3 1111 8 "*****1 *****4 newsbreak Cut costs now to regain edge: SM [SINGAPORE] Singapore must act immediately to cut costs in order to stay competitive, said Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew at the Tanjong Pagar Constituency's National Day Celebration

MOTORING beauties: fast and furious. PMSE 14 FOOD to a 12-month high. PAGE 4 v > b, >; v '.I Kttgp- 1 1 f-:•' f > 3ks J K fc—v. **th BLACKOUT REPORTS. Pn.i;os 2 11

US blackout a mere hiccup: economists Economy should be able to shrug it off or even get a small shot in the arm, but they will begin to worry if the outage continues into next week Reuters Bloomberg AP AFP [NEW YORK] The largest power blackout in North American history

Singapore has to cut costs now to regain its edge: SM Lee He sees pickup when Bosh's tax cuts flow through to US consumers By Vince Chong [SINGAPORE] Countries that block the dynamics of the global economy will pay dearly. If Singapore is to avoid such a costly lesson, it

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US power outage disrupts flights, Pgll

A full repertoire As vice-chairman, Asia at UBS, he coordinates the selling of the Swiss giant's financial services and products. As chairman of the board of the Singapore Repertory Theatre, he oversees the selling of arts productions and other such non-profit concerns. Robin Tomlin tells PARVATHI NAYAR how he interfaces

High risk, high returns in Forbidden fruit IT'S that whole story about frogs and hot water, says Mr Tomlin: "If you drop a frog into boiling water it dies, but if you gradually keep increasing the temperature without reaching boiling point, it can take a lot more than it thought

Raffles' INTERNATIONAL I lotels i\: Resorts The Raffles Conversation is brought to you through a special arrangement with Raffles International Hotels and Resorts. The Traveller's Palm in the Raffles International logo is an apt symbol. Not only has water stored at the base of this palm provided sustenance, the leaves

Creative shares surge to a 12-month high Rise spurred by turnaround in firm's results, bullish reports by 2 brokers By Serena Ng IT was sweet music for Creative Technology this week as shares in the soundcard maker rocketed up by more than a fifth in a five-day bullish run not

Local banks riding high on interest rate hopes corporate analysis Foreign lenders may now be forced to rein in undercutting strategies, says Siow Li Sen Siow Li Sen INVESTORS have been piling into the shares of DBS Bank, betting that the bank with the largest and low-est-cost deposits will get

A familiar ring as SU flirts with 1,600-level market review r sivanithy THERE are remarkable parallels between this week and the one that ended on July 18, which was the last time the Straits Times Index threatened to break above the 1,600 level but failed to do so. First, that

MARKETS □sn 1,594.32 (-4.65) ST INDEX FUTURES 1,892.00 (-9.00) SIMSCI FUTURES 196.50 (-0.80) Friday Changi* kl.SKCOMP 72H.5I 1 <15 NIKKKI ».m347 -MM HANG SENCi _10.***** »50.54 SET INDEX 5191»4 *021 JAKARTA (XtMP _5I1«5 .«52 MANILA OMP I24K05 IK25 TAIPEI WPI 5.4KX74 «5I «W SEWLCOMP rkiwd SHENZHEN B... 232 W *012

FINANCE FOREX RATES US$ S$ I SS (SS per I S$) 1.748 £(I SS/SS per i|... W ±**1 Kl KO|l"SS/SS/Kj. I I* 1969 YEN 119.0 68.10 KM 3 *00 1174 HKS 7799 4.461 HAHT 4164 #82 Rl PI AH 8.538 4.883 MM 8.299 4.747 INDIAN HB 45.89 2624 AS 0869

DBS winning over M'sian corporations It has won a clutch of syndicated loan deals denominated in US$ this year From Eddie Toh in Kuala Lumpur THERE are several reasons why DBS Bank has been snapping up loan mandates in Malaysia despite being the only Singapore bank without a full licence

SIA passenger load factor picks up Fare promotions, pent-up demand cited; cargo loads still weak By Ven Sreenivasan TRAVELLERS are taking to the skies again judging by the sequential pickup in load factor for Singapore Airlines. July saw a passenger load factor of 78.6 per cent for the carrier, up

Kingsmen eyes Sesdaq listing as part of expansion plans By Serena Ng HOMEGROWN communication design and exhibition services group Kingsmen Creatives Ltd, known in the industry for its strong brand name, is eyeing a Sesdaq listing as part of its plans to expand its network in the region. The company,

CSA HOLDINGS LTD Unaudited First Quarter Financial Statement Group 3 month* ended 30.06.2003 30.06.2002 Revenue 114.284 125,392 Cost of sales (77.522) (87.634) Gross profit 36,762 37 758 Other operating income 251 262 Selling, general and administrative expenses (36.834) (37.029) Proftt from operations 179 991 Finance costs (305) (367) (Loss) Profit

Take the currency route As Premium Currency Deposit gets more popular, TEH HOOI LING finds out the opportunities it offers TEH HOOI LING HERE'S the scenario. You have quite a bit of spare cash and you want to hold it in liquid form. But you also want a higher return

Funds ad rules thrown to the winds genevieve cua AT A time when many in the funds management industry are painfully conscious of tripping over the strict rules on fund promotion, some advertisements for investment products are a glaring anomaly. For instance, Great Eastern Life's ad recently screamed: "Want to

p*T©tT| Lianhe Zaobao I Tertiary I I institution I I housed in Telok Blangah I I Community I I Club I I Rftflill I I I I I IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPANIES ACT, CAP 50 AND IN THE MATTER OF QIN SHENG INVESTMENT INTERNATIONAL PTE LTD (INCORPORATED IN

IT'S OFFICIAL. We're in cahoots. Si 01 W$ Announcing a merger? Call 1800-*****22 or email: notices@sph.com.sg to book your Notices advertisement in our newspapers now. IN THh MATTLR OF COMPANIES ACT. CAP 50 AND IN T HI-! MATTLK OF ACTIVF MERCHANDISING COMPANY PTE LTI) (MEMBERS VOI UNTARY LIQUIDATION) Al an

I From tulips to new hanging lamps, find than all in The Straits Times Classified. CAXi Buy It Sdl It Find It

Diversifying portfolio is the prudent way to invest By Genevieve Cua JUST THINK: If you can only time your entry in and out of markets, not only would you have avoided the worst of the last three years' carnage, you would also have reaped the profits from bonds simply by

Business strategy analysis show me the money This helps investors determine if current profitability is sustainable and make sound assumptions when forecasting future performance teh hooi ling ONE of the most important steps in analysing companies is business strategy analysis the purpose of which is to identify key profit drivers

Lowest forward P/E portfolio gains 5.9% By Teh Hooi Ling WITH the revival of local bourse, punters are seeking out undervalued stocks that are ripe for re-rating. This has benefited the portfolio made up of stocks with the lowest price relative to their exported earnings next year. The lowest forward

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Rethinking financial planning RETIREMENT Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong is expected to announce a fine-tuning of Central Provident Fund rates in his annual National Day Rally address tomorrow. BT examines how this will affect your plans for the future With lower CPF contributions, there will be no margin for poor

Medisave account may get less funds HEALTHCARE But this may not have a big impact if cuts are temporary By Genevieve Cua A CUT in the CPF contribution rates if that occurs is expected to have a knockon effect on workers' healthcare, with correspondingly lower contributions to the Medisave account.

Big drop in investment funds unlikely INVESTMENT Observers point to the vast amounts off untapped CPF funds By Wong Wei Kong CUTTING the Central Provident Fund contribution rate should not result in a significant drop in investments by CPF investors because there are still billions left untapped in the system.

Housing affordability won't slip much PROPERTY But property sentiment will take a hit, say analysts By Andrea Tan SENTIMENT in the property market is expected to take a hard knock on fears that Central Provident Fund contribution rates will be cut. But affordability is unlikely to be dented much, analysts

Compensation provisions for acquired land under review PARLIAMENT Govt will seek to strike a balance between individual interest and public good: minister By Kalpana Rashiwala PROVISIONS in the Land Acquisition Act that state the basis of compensation will be part of a continuing review of legislation carried out by the

VW launches luxury SUV VOLKSWAGEN'S new luxury SUV-cum-off-road vehicle, the Touareg, has arrived in Singapore. The car was launched yesterday at a cocktail party attended by some3ooinvited guests at Laguna National Golf Club. Jointly developed by VW and sports-car maker Porsche, the Touareg boasts state-of-the-art technology, including six-speed automatic dynamic-shift

Sars measures relaxed VISITORS to Singapore will no longer have to complete health declaration cards, and human movement between and within hospitals will be relaxed from Monday. With the improvement in the severe acute respiratory syndrome situation worldwide, the Ministry of Health has been relaxing precautionary rules since late July,

New stat board to help get jobless back to work Workforce Devt Agency will assist in retraining, job hunt By Chuang Peck Ming [SINGAPORE] The Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) a new statutory board set to take off next month will go the extra mile to get the unemployed back

Month-long Fumihiko Maki exhibition AN exhibition on famed Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki's works rims at the URA Centre from today to September 19. Prof Maki was honoured as the 1993 Laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the highest honour presented to a living architect whose built work "demonstrates a combination

36 firms win tax reliefs for setting up base here By Kenneth Lim SINGAPORE'S efforts to attract international shipping operators to set up regional bases here came full circle yesterday as the first recipient of the Approved International Shipping Enterprises (AIS) scheme became the first company to renew its tax-exempt

Motor vehicles boost June retail sales retail sales By Kalpana Rashiwala THE official retail sales index jumped 9.6 per cent year on year in June, but the bulk of the increase came from motor vehicle sales, which surged 21.5 per cent. Excluding motor vehicles, the index at constant prices that

Security tightened for Apec talks after Hambali's arrest Reuters AFP Bloomberg [BANGKOK] Police have tightened security around an Asia-Pacific meeting in southern Thailand following the arrest of Hambali, the suspected mastermind behind deadly bombings in the region, including last week's blast at the JW Marriott hotel in Jakarta. Around 1,000

Ports in M'sia, China growing at the expense of S'pore, HK The WTO's Worid Trade Report 2003 sees this as one reason for the less dynamic performance of S'pore and HK in recent years [KUALA LUMPUR] The expansion in container traffic at ports in Malaysia and China is one reason

Low profile was a necessity Syed Mokhtar talks about his survival after RM3b in shares and assets was reduced to RM600m in the 1997 crisis MALAYSIAN tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary the man behind PTP's success says he had to keep a low business profile in the last few years, as

Myanmar tells traders to use euros instead of US dollars Yen, Sing also allowed if trading partners agree AP [YANGON] Myanmar's military government, faced with a US ban on remittances to the country, has decreed that the euro and other currencies should be used in place of the US dollar

Jakarta unveils conservative draft budget for 2004 Focus on sustaining economy rather than expansion Reuters DEBT-LADEN Indonesia unveiled a conservative 2004 draft budget yesterday, forecasting an improving economy and shrinking deficit but lifting development spending to aid the country's impoverished masses. Analysts said the economic blueprint the first that will

Goldman report sees China revaluing yuan Beijing may let currency strengthen to avoid criticism at G-7 meeting, it says Bloomberg [FRANKFURT] China may allow its currency to strengthen to avoid criticism at a meeting of Group of Seven (G-7) finance ministers next month, said Jim O'Neill, head of economic research

MCI may have avoided taxes AFP [NEW YORK] Bankrupt telecoms group MCI, formerly World Com, may have avoided "hundreds of millions of dollars in state taxes" between 1999 and 2001 on the basis of advice from KPMG accountants, The Wall Street Journal said on Thursday. In a bid to minimise

US power outage disrupts flights US POWER FAILURE Several carriers cancel or divert flights after blackout struck major US cities and parts off Canada Bloomberg [WASHINGTON] Airlines worldwide cancelled or diverted flights after the power outage struck a region from New York to Michigan and part of Canada, forcing travel

US records benign 0.2% rise in July inflation LATEST US DATA 0.5% jump in July factory output lifted by utilities [WASHINGTON] Rising energy prices, higher tuition and gains in lodging and housing costs pushed US inflation up moderately in July, the government said yesterday in a report that could ease

US markets, regulators pass test Bloomberg [NEW YORK] US financial markets and the government agencies that oversee them passed the biggest test of Wall Street's backup systems since the September 2001 terrorist attacks, operating with minimal disruption after an electrical blackout struck New York City and the US North-east on

Is it time to sell stocks? Executive share sales in US reveal a bearish mood in July Reuters [NEW YORK] Think it's time to buy stocks now the market has stabilised after its spring rally? Many corporate insiders don't. Executives sold about US$32 worth of their own companies' stock for

India's back-office adds skills After cornering 60 per cent of the US$16 billion IT outsourcing market India is now poised to latch on to the next big thing: outsourcing of financial services Reuters [BANGALORE] THE office of Process Mind, around the comer from a granite temple to Hindu god Ganesha,

This could be Mickelson's year Considered the best player never to have won a major, he has a good chance now NYT [ROCHESTER, New York) PHIL Mickelson entered the PGA Championship attracting far less attention than usual. Rodney Pampling entered the PGA attracting almost no attention. That will not be

Jones settles for Sanders AP [NEW YORK) Roy Jones Jr couldn't get the big fights he really wanted, so he turned to Corrie Sanders instead. Jones will return to the ring on Nov 8 for the first time since winning the heavyweight title when he takes on Sanders, most likely

A little less of that sledging on the pitch, please frankly speaking naveen verghese IN cricketing parlance, "sledging" is the deliberate verbal abuse of opponents with the intention of disturbing their concentration. It can vary from irritating and constant chatter to straightforward taunting and swearing. Though the current Australian cricket

Fast but furious Two Italian beauties whizzed into town recently. SAMUEL EE managed to catch up with them to get the lowdown. SAMUEL EE SHE was hurt. They had accused her of going soft and threatened to turn their affections to the luscious new Lambo next door. Hell hath no

Packed with punch IT'S called the baby Lambo, but this exotic car is anything but small and cute. The new Lamborghini Gallardo may not be as big as the Vl2 Murcielago. But it still has a five-litre, 40-valve VlO aluminium engine with 500 hp. Permanent four-wheel-drive and 19-inch Pirelli P

Tips to ease wear tear Over-exercising or pushing yourself too hard often leads to injuries which require medical treatment, even surgery. SEAMUS PHAN looks at how you can prevent accidents and reduce pain naturally SEAMUS PHAN MK| NJURY is often seen as the rite of passage for sportspeople, but it

Eat your spirulina, it's good for you eatwell By John Yeo WHAT is 100 per cent natural, high in calcium and protein, low in fat, good for pregnant mothers and growing children? This might sound like a milk commercial, except that low fat milk is not 100 per cent natural.

secondopinion Dr Lim Lian Arn, Dr Ng Wai Lin Q: I'm a male in my mid-30s and go to the gym about three times a week. I'm also careful with my diet, but my cholesterol has shot up from 190 to 230over the last year. I wonder if taking glucosamine

healthtalk Compiled by Cheah Ui-Hoon FwkOWw ww hi from Maw, policy issues on health, income security and social support. Iteyaete Dr Victoria Velkofif, chief. Ageing Studies Branch, US Census Bureau Date A Um: Aug 23,1.3(M>pm Vmmn: Suntec Theatre, Level 3, Suntec City OvgaalMd by: The Tsao Foundation IttgWwUoK Closing date

men at play CHEAH UI-HOON looks at how Alfred Dunhill's new concept store ties in with the brand's worldwide relaunch, and why red is the colour of choice CHEAH UI-HOON ALFRED Dunhill rolled out its Red Store concept two years ago, at its flagship in Bond Street, London. Now the

A gem of a concept Dickson Yewn went from art to cinema to advertising to photography before finally settling into fine jewellery. CORINNE KERK meets the Hong Kong-based designer CORINNE KERK IN his beige shirt, trackie and red sneakers, Dickson Yewn looks more like a student than a 33-year-old jewellery

entertainmentguide Going out or staying in this weekend? PARVATHI NAYAR rounds up some recommendations PARVATHI NAYAR books LMng dangerously The God Who Begat a Jackal is a work of rich fantasy-romance but somehow, ends up feeling like real history. The story set in Hararghe, the place where Mezlekia grew up,

wine&dine with weekendßT :;|p§§ A+WlNEPteLtd fnlnn—'i fnfi MMNiwOWlhlfapoit *|R J?I famous Taiwanese Porridge spread. Asian specialities Hitachi Tower, #01-17. Tel/fax: *****397 Peninsula Excelsior Hotel, Level 5. Tel: 6416 1132 177 A River Valley Rd TeL *****790 I Enjoy a selection of international wines with new Buffet lunch available on weekends

Return of the set lunch With menus everywhere in town turning up competitive and creative combinations for a fixed price, diners who don't want to dig too deep into their wallets are spoilt for choice, as GEOFFREY EU finds out GEOFFREY EU WHILE there may indeed be no such thing

Modern classic dining with old world charm LOH HUI YIN enjoys fusion with a twist in a Shanghai park, at a lovingly restored villa owned by two Malaysians and an award-winning Japanese chef LOH HUI YIN BEN Lam fell in love the moment he laid eyes on "her". "Her" being

CBYPTIC CROSSWORD 8 Started to drop off about one tedwus fashton*(7) HT IH Hi ll h| 10 The colour of those suffering 5 on board 10 [1 I 1 1 from mal-de-mer? (3-5) (8) fIH~ ~IB~IH Ml"" ~feH~~ST 1H 11 Keeping pace, though on 6 Fed-up with being a con--12