Singapore will probably force companies to further reduce their reliance on foreign labor in the 2013 budget, after a public backlash against the influx of workers led to the biggest demonstration in more than a decade.
Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam may cut the ratio of overseas workers companies are allowed to hire, according to Credit Suisse Group AG. To counter any labor shortfall, there may also be incentives to boost productivity, economists at Citigroup Inc. and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. said ahead of the Feb. 25 budget presentation.
Thousands gathered in a rare political protest on Feb. 16, signaling concerns that foreigners are taking jobs from locals and driving up housing costs haven’t abated even after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong tightened hiring rules in recent years. Lee has warned that the labor curbs will slow economic growth, while rising costs are bedeviling businesses such as The King Louis restaurant, where all the full-time waiters are foreigners.
“I’m worried every time the budget comes around,” said Sebastian Teow, marketing manager at the medieval-themed restaurant. Teow is already struggling to fill positions at the outlet and coping with higher taxes for hiring overseas workers in recent years, he said. “We are really hoping there won’t be higher levies as they are eating into the profits.”
Growth Slows
Singapore’s economy grew 1.2 percent in 2012, the least in three years. The island is in a “new phase” of growth where it must adjust to a smaller pace of expansion, and hiring constraints are among the reasons for last year’s slowdown, the prime minister has said. The government forecasts growth of 1 percent to 3 percent this year.
“The ongoing challenge of sluggish growth coupled with a high-cost environment remains a hurdle to both businesses and workers alike,” said Selena Ling, an economist at Oversea- Chinese Banking in Singapore. The budget “needs to strike a balance between economic restructuring vis-a-vis manpower constraints and cost issues on the ground,” she said.
A report tomorrow may show the economy grew an annualized 2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 from the previous three months, faster than an initial estimate of 1.8 percent, according to the median of 11 estimates in a Bloomberg survey.
Elsewhere in Asia today, Hong Kong’s jobless rate rose to 3.4 percent last month, while in Europe, purchasing managers indices for the region showed a deepening contraction in manufacturing and services in February. The U.S. will release consumer price data for January, while economists predict a separate report will show jobless claims rose in the week through Feb. 16.
Wage Supplements
Lee’s ruling party is facing weakening support in the island that it has governed for more than five decades. The rising number of foreigners has contributed to competition for jobs, congested public transportation and surging home prices. The resulting public discontent contributed to record opposition gains in the 2011 general election, and caused Lee’s party to lose a parliament seat in a January by-election.
Last week’s demonstration was against a population policy that may see the number of people on the island rise to 6.9 million by 2030 from 5.3 million now. Lawmakers from Lee’s party endorsed a white paper earlier this month that outlined proposals to allow more foreigners through 2030 to boost the workforce.
Tough Times
The white paper predicted total workforce growth will ease to 1 percent to 2 percent annually through 2020, compared with an average rate of 3.3 percent per annum in the last three decades. The projections are “tough” for businesses, said Ho Meng Kit, chief executive officer of the Singapore Business Federation, which represents more than 18,000 companies.
In 2012, the government cut the proportion of foreign workers that companies can hire, and increased levies for employing them. An Association of Small and Medium Enterprises survey last year showed more than eight in 10 companies are facing manpower shortages.
Under current limits, employers in the construction industry can hire as many as seven foreigners for every local worker, compared with a ratio of 1.5 for manufacturers and 0.8 for services companies. Monthly levies that companies have to pay for such workers may be as much as S$650 ($524) per employee in construction, S$550 in services and S$500 in manufacturing.
Worker Strike
SMRT Corp. (MRT), the island’s biggest subway operator, said in January that its profitability in the next 12 months will deteriorate in part as staff costs “significantly increase.” Dozens of SMRT’s bus drivers from China held Singapore’s first strike in 26 years in November over a wage dispute.
Unit labor costs rose 6.1 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, Statistics Department data show. They may climb 3 percent to 4 percent in 2013, the central bank said in October.
“The likely continued pressure on wage costs will be negative for offshore and marine companies, domestic transport operators and exporters,” Sanjay Mookim and Kwee Hong Ching, research analysts at Credit Suisse, said in a research note.
Shanmugaratnam may also announce more assistance for the poor and bigger wage supplements for low-income earners when he presents the budget to Parliament next week, according to Citigroup economist Kit Wei Zheng.
Singapore’s income inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient widened last year, according to the Statistics Department. Inflation averaged 4.6 percent in 2012 and the island is the third-most expensive Asian city to live in and the sixth globally, according to an Economist Intelligence Unit ranking published this month.
Last year, the government said it will make permanent a program to provide cash, utility rebates and medical funds for elderly and low-income households.
“Helping the lower-income segment of the society is likely to remain on the top of the lists as Singapore strives to be an inclusive society,” Francis Tan and Jimmy Koh, analysts at United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOB), wrote in a research note.-Bloomberg (February 21, 2013 5:43PM)
Myanmar's government has held peace talks with a federation of ethnic groups to try to resolve issues including the conflict in the northern state of Kachin.
The United Nationalities Federal Council, which was formed by about a dozen ethnic minority groups including the Kachin, met government officials in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai on Wednesday.
In a brief statement afterwards, they said the "frank and friendly" talks aimed to map out a framework and timeframe for political dialogue, and pledged to hold another round of discussions within two months.
However, Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay, reporting from Chiang Mai, said "Kachin officials have been quietly critical of this meeting, dismissing it as a mere meet-and-greet situation - so much so that they haven't sent any senior representatives from Kachin State."
Myanmar's quasi-civilian government has reached tentative ceasefires with a number of ethnic rebel groups since taking power in early 2011. But several rounds of talks with the Kachin rebels have failed to reach a breakthrough.
The government held fresh talks with the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) in China earlier this month, with both sides agreeing to try to reduce military tensions and continue dialogue.
The Kachin, who are fighting for greater autonomy, say any negotiations should also address their demands for more political rights.
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in Kachin state since June 2011, when a 17-year ceasefire between the government and the KIO's armed wing, the Kachin Independence Army, broke down.
Fighting escalated in December, and the Myanmar military has used air strikes against the rebels.
Last month the government announced a unilateral halt to its offensive but the Kachin have accused the military of flouting the ceasefire.-Al Jazeera (February 21, 2013 03:50)
The Philippine government is still determined to seek U.N. arbitration on its long-running territorial dispute with China despite Beijing's refusal to cooperate.
“We will follow the process whether they agree to or not, we’ll just follow the process,” said Secretary to the Cabinet Rene Almendras on Wednesday, a day after Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Ma Keqing delivered a Note Verbale to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) stating that China is rejecting and returning the Philippines’ Notification and Statement of Claim.
Almendras said they still believe that “down the line, there will be some decisions and actions that these international bodies will hopefully come up with and, hopefully, they will be to our favor.”
He said he was not surprised with China's decision. “Personally, I’m not surprised; I expected it. Even when we were discussing this, they already said so that they will not [cooperate] from the very beginning.”
Nevertheless, Almendras said the government will exert all efforts to try and get recognition from the international community. “The important thing is that somebody, other than us, will say that this is so.”
Both China and the Philippines — as well Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam — are locked in a dispute over ownership of the Spratly Islands, a chain of islands and islets believed to be rich in oil and minerals deposits, in the West Philippine Sea. Japan, on the other hand, claims the Senkaku Islands, which China also asserts ownership over.
The Philippines recently notified China that it is bringing their territorial dispute over parts of the resource-rich South China Sea to international arbitration.-GMA News (February 20, 2013 3:22PM)
North Korea threatened South Korea with "final destruction" during a debate at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday, saying it could take further steps after a nuclear test last week.
"As the saying goes, a new-born puppy knows no fear of a tiger. South Korea's erratic behaviour would only herald its final destruction," North Korean diplomat Jon Yong Ryong told the meeting.
Jon's comments drew quick criticism from other nations, including South Korea, France, Germany and Britain, whose ambassador Joanne Adamson said such language was "completely inappropriate" and the discussion with North Korea was heading in the wrong direction.
"It cannot be allowed that we have expressions which refer to the possible destruction of U.N. member states," she said.
Spanish Ambassador Javier Gil Catalina said the comment left him stupefied and appeared to be a breach of international law.
"In the 30 years of my career I've never heard anything like it and it seems to me that we are not speaking about something that is even admissible, we are speaking about a threat of the use of force that is prohibited by Article 2.4 of the United Nations charter," Catalina said.
Since the North tested a nuclear bomb last week in defiance of U.N. resolutions, its southern neighbour has warned it could strike the isolated state if it believed an attack was imminent.
Pyongyang said the aim of the test was to bolster its defences given the hostility of the United States, which has led a push to impose sanctions on North Korea.
"Our current nuclear test is the primary countermeasure taken by the DPRK in which it exercised its maximum self-restraint," said the North Korean diplomat Jon.
"If the U.S. takes a hostile approach toward the DPRK to the last, rendering the situation complicated, it (North Korea) will be left with no option but to take the second and third stronger steps in succession," he said, without indicating what that might entail.
North Korea has already told key ally China that it is prepared to stage one or two more tests this year to force the United States into diplomatic talks, a source with direct knowledge of the message told Reuters last week.
'Offensive'
U.S. Ambassador Laura Kennedy said she found North Korea's threat on Tuesday profoundly disturbing and later tweeted that it was "offensive".
Poland's representative suggested North Korea's participation in the U.N. forum should be limited.
Impoverished and malnourished North Korea is one of the most heavily sanctioned states in the world.
It is still technically at war with South Korea after a 1950-53 civil war ended in a mere truce.
Washington and its allies are believed to be pushing to tighten the noose around North Korea's financial transactions in a bid to starve its leadership of funding.
Jon said last week's test was an act of self-defence against nuclear blackmail by the United States, which wanted to block North Korea's economic development and its fundamental rights.
"It is the disposition and firm will of the army and people of the DPRK to counter high-handed policy with tough-fist policy and to react to pressure and sanctions with an all-out counter-action," he said.
Jon said the United States had conducted most of the nuclear tests and satellite launches in history, and he described its pursuit of U.N. Security Council resolutions against North Korea as "a breach of international law and the height of double standards".
Neither Russia nor China, which are veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council, spoke at Tuesday's meeting in Geneva.
Before its nuclear test, North Korea was already facing growing diplomatic pressure at the United Nations.
The U.N. Human Rights Council is widely expected to order an inquiry next month into its leaders' responsibilities for crimes against humanity.-ABS-CBN News (February 20, 2013 11:56PM)
Indonesia's 2012 data on balance of payments underlined the pressure applied to the sovereign's external finances, remaining consistent with an investment grade, according to international agency Fitch Ratings.
“Indeed, we believe the sovereign external balance sheet will strengthen despite the emergence of a current account deficit [CAD] in 2012,” Fitch Ratings said in a statement released on Tuesday.
Bank Indonesia (BI) announced a balance of payments surplus of $2 billion for 2012, significantly lower than the $11.9 billion surplus recorded in 2011. The country posted its first annual CAD since 1997 — around 2.7 percent of GDP — but this was offset by the capital and financial account surplus.
The external finances are a long-standing weakness in the Indonesian sovereign credit profile, and exposure to a potential external liquidity shock remains high.
Robust domestic demand growth has been a driver of Indonesia's CAD, in turn partly reflecting loose monetary and credit conditions.
"We believe BI puts a relatively high weight on fostering growth among its policy priorities. Nonetheless, we expect BI will ultimately pursue policies aimed at averting overheating and ensuring economic and financial stability," Fitch Ratings said.
The international ratings agency added that it remained to be seen whether BI's willingness to tolerate currency volatility decreases. Currency flexibility is a key tool for BI in its efforts to avoid a potential build-up of macroeconomic imbalances.
BI intervention to support the currency contributed to a 3.5 percent decline in Foreign Exchange reserves to $ 108.8 billion in January from $112.8 billion in December 2012.
The reserve level is the lowest in six months, but is equivalent to more than six months of imports.
Fitch affirmed Indonesia's sovereign rating at 'BBB-' with a Stable Outlook in November and believes the current figures are consistent with this view.
Additionally, based on Fitch's projections, Indonesia still has the potential to become a net sovereign external creditor in the coming years.
Indonesia's 2014 presidential elections are expected to limit prospects for economic, fiscal and institutional reform, suggesting responsibility for any required economic adjustment will lie with BI.
Such reform could address existing weaknesses in the sovereign credit profile and may ease pressure on the external finances, Fitch Ratings said.-The Jakarta Globe (February 20, 2013)
The Philippine Coast Guard on Wednesday said it already called off its search and rescue operations for the 14 missing crew members of a Myanmar ship that sank off Bolinao, Pangasinan on Saturday night.
PCG Northern Luzon district commander Capt. Pablo Gonzalez said the missing crewmen of the sunken MV Arita Bauxite were, so far, presumed dead and believed trapped inside the ill-fated vessel’s engine room.
“We terminated our rescue operation because we no longer see any indication that we still have survivors,” said Gonzalez.
He cited the statement of one of the survivors who claimed that most of the missing crew members were engineers who were still working on and trying to revive the main engine of the ship when it sank.
“Based on the statement of (one of the survivors), it only took only seven minutes for the ship to totally sink. The engine room was located four stories below and it was a very huge ship,” Gonzalez said.
“Although we remain hopeful that there are still survivors. We are hopeful that they were just carried off somewhere by the current. We may resume rescue operations again if [we] see any [indication],” Gonzalez added.
He said some PCG personnel remain on standby in Bolinao, hoping to get feedback from fishermen and passing vessels plying the route about sightings of survivors.
“Actually they are still considered missing, but the probability of seeing them alive is really very slim,” he said.
The official said it may be impossible to retrieve the bodies of the crewmen from the wreck due to the depth of the area where the vessel sank.
“It’s around 1,038 fathoms deep. Multiply that by six, so it’s around 6,000 feet,” he said.
He said that as of Tuesday, the PCG has already turned over the survivors to the Bureau of Immigration, along with the ship agent representative.
“Their repatriation is now being processed,” the PCG official said.
Asked about the possibility of resurfacing the sunken vessel, Gonzalez said the process could be strenuous. “The area where it sank was very deep. We are also encountering big waves and gale-force winds in the area.”
Meanwhile, Gonzalez said they are monitoring the traces of oil at the site where the Aurita Bauxite sank.
“We are monitoring it, apparently the movement of oil spill is palabas ng bansa (away from the country), palabas ng West Philippine Sea,” he said. “It’s actually just an oil slick … I think it’s best that we let nature do the rest to let the oil thin out and evaporate.”
The Myanmar vessel sank in the waters off Cape Bolinao at 11:30 p.m. Saturday after it encountered engine trouble while on its way to Indonesia.-Philippine Daily Inquirer (February 20, 2013 7:23PM)
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China has formally rejected the Philippines’ move to bring to an arbitral tribunal its claim over the West Philippine Sea, but the Department of Foreign (DFA) is not bothered.
In a statement, the DFA said: “China’s action will not interfere with the process of Arbitration initiated by the Philippines on 22 January 2013. The Arbitration will proceed under Annex VII of [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea] and the 5-member arbitration panel will be formed with or without China.”
Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Ma Keqing sent a Note Verbale on Tuesday stating that China rejects and returns the Philippines’ Notification and Statement of Claim. China said it has indisputable sovereignty over the entire South China Sea as encompassed by its 9-dash line claim.
“The Philippines remains committed to Arbitration which is a friendly, peaceful and durable form of dispute settlement that should be welcomed by all,” the DFA said.
The nine-dash line theory takes about 90 percent of the whole area, which China calls the South China Sea in its territorial maps. The boundary has been published in Chinese annals since 1947.
DFA also said the soon-to-be-formed tribunal will check the domestic laws of China, which should be in conformity with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario earlier said UNCLOS, which defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world's oceans, will be the great “equalizer.”
Article 9 of Annex 7 provides that: “If one of the parties to the dispute does not appear before the arbitral tribunal or fails to defend its case, the other party may request the tribunal to continue the proceedings and to make its award. Absence of a party or failure of a party to defend its case shall not constitute a bar to the proceedings. Before making its award, the arbitral tribunal must satisfy itself not only that it has jurisdiction over the dispute but also that the claim is well founded in fact and law.”-ABS-CBN News (February 19, 2013 7:58PM)
The Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (Ceza) in the north is considering exporting used vehicles imported into the special economic zone in Sta. Ana town once the Philippine government clamps down on their resale in the country.
Ceza administrator Jose Mari Ponce said the agency was considering exporting to either Africa or Bangladesh some 600 vehicles that arrived in the country after the Supreme Court decision on January 7 that upheld the validity of Executive Order No. 156.
The executive order, issued by then President Gloria Arroyo in 2002, prohibits the importation of used vehicles into the country, with some exceptions.
“We are trying to determine if there is a market in those areas because if this ban becomes permanent, our best option is to have the vehicles reexported,” Ponce said.
He said Ceza would abide by the ruling of the Supreme Court, denying accusations that the continued arrival of shiploads of used cars in the Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport (CSEZFP) was an act of defiance.
“So if the [Bureau of] Customs is now telling its people to stop [processing the latest shipment of used cars], then that is not our concern because ours is a free port, and we are not violating any laws as long as these vehicles stay within the secured perimeter,” Ponce said.
On Thursday, Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon ordered its district office in Aparri, Cagayan, which covers the CSEZFP, to stop the processing of the shipment of 200 used vehicles from South Korea that arrived there on February 11.
Biazon said this was a show of respect for the Supreme Court ruling, which, according to him, the agency will fully enforce once it becomes final and executory.
A shipment of about 400 vehicles from Japan is expected to arrive at Port Irene, CSEZFP’s main port, on Thursday, Ceza officials earlier said.
Avert huge losses
“Reexporting is one option that [used car traders] can resort to avert huge losses. Otherwise, if this industry is really shut down, those vehicles will eventually turn into nothing but junk,” said Ponce, a relative of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who was behind the creation of the special zone and free port through the passage of a law.
But even as used-car traders, mainly Forerunner Multi Sources Inc., the petitioner in the recently decided case, were seeking other legal remedies to avert the folding up of their multimillion-peso industry, Ceza has begun looking at alternatives, said Ponce.
Alternative livelihood
“We are now also looking at the worst-case scenario that about 1,000 people will be left jobless if this industry will stop. So we are trying to look for alternative livelihood for them,” he added.
The Automotive Rebuilders Industry of Cagayan (Aric) was not looking at the option of reexporting the imported vehicles.
“It will never lead to that point. We are confident that [the used-car importation] at Ceza will not be stopped because, as we have already stated, this is allowed by Executive Order No. 418, and the [January 7] Supreme Court ruling has not yet decided on the validity of EO 156,” said Aric president Jaime Vicente.
Conflicting orders
EO 418 was issued in 2005 by Arroyo and modifies tariff rates for used imported vehicles.
“So we have here two conflicting orders—one that [implicitly] allows and one that prohibits. If [the government] implements one, it renders the other inoperable,” he said.
Vicente said Aric’s operations should not be hampered by the recent Supreme Court decision because it did not decide the main issue of the case, but only the validity of the issuance of an injunction.
“The latter order (EO 418) has already been declared constitutional by the Supreme Court with finality; the other (EO 156) is still pending. So which one should prevail?” he told the Inquirer by telephone yesterday.-Asia News Network (February 19, 2013)
Singapore and Malaysia announced plans Tuesday to build a high-speed rail link, fuelling hopes that Southeast Asia could one day enjoy a rapid European-style train system connected to China.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak hailed the project, which would cut travel time between the city-state and Kuala Lumpur to 90 minutes. The target year for completion is 2020.
"This is a strategic development in bilateral relations that will dramatically improve the connectivity between Malaysia and Singapore," the leaders said in a joint statement issued after meeting in Singapore.
"It will facilitate seamless travel between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, enhance business linkages and bring the peoples of Malaysia and Singapore closer together."
The existing rail link between the two countries dates back to the period of British colonial rule over both, with stops at several Malaysian towns.
No cost was given for the new rail link.
"(We) have some very preliminary figures but I am not inclined to mention those figures because it will tend to stick in people's minds," Najib said at a joint news conference with Lee.
"Our two cities will complement each other, our two countries will look at each other differently and the opportunities are boundless between our two countries," Najib said.
Lee quipped that Singaporeans would be able to have lunch with friends in Kuala Lumpur and get back within the day.
The 90 minute travel time for the train compares with four hours by car, including immigration clearances, and five hours by bus. And while a flight takes less than an hour that does not take into account the time taken to check in, pass immigration and pick up luggage.
"It's a strategic project for the two countries. It will change the way we see each other," said Lee, likening it to the heavily used London-Paris connection.
Both countries belong to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which hopes to one day link most of the member states by rail and extend the connection to China and possibly India.
ASEAN is contemplating a link that will run from Singapore to Kunming in southwestern China.
According to ASEAN's website, there is an estimated 4,069 kilometres (2,522 miles) of missing links that need to be built, or existing railways that need to be rehabilitated, in several countries.
"Beyond ASEAN, once these links are built, it will connect both the mainland ASEAN and ASEAN with its trading partners China and India," a fact sheet on the project said.
The Singapore-Malaysia high-speed rail link was first mooted in the 1990s by Francis Yeoh, head of Malaysian infrastructure conglomerate YTL, which built an express train service from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport to the capital's downtown area.
The idea was repeatedly shelved largely due to cost concerns. Malaysian media reports said in 2009 that the project's cost was estimated at $2.5 billion-$3.5 billion.
Hopes for the project were revived in 2010 when it was tapped as a potential key project under an economic transformation drive launched by Najib, who became prime minister the year before.-Yahoo News (February 19, 2013 3:30PM)
It's not a bird nor an airplane. It's the Thai economy. This Asian nation soared by an eye-popping 18.9% in the 4th quarter of 2012. It's a record performance that was attributed to low base in the same quarter in 2011 and recovery efforts that allowed the industrial sector to move past the devastating impact of the worst flood in decades. After growing a meager 0.1% in 2011, when floods swamped 65 of the 77 provinces in the country and crippled production in the auto and electronics sectors, Thailand performed a remarkable 6.4% in 2012, putting it on par with Philippine's 6.6% performance and Indonesia 6.23%.-Rappler (February 19, 2013 11:37AM)
Timor-Leste Foreign Minister Jose Luis Guterres will arrive on Thursday, February 21, for a two-day official visit to the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs announced Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Guterres will hold bilateral talks with Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario during the visit, the DFA said in its advisory.
Foreign Minister Guterres’s official visit is a strong indication of the interest of both the Philippines and Timor-Leste to expand and enhance bilateral relations specifically in the areas of technical cooperation, human resource development, and education, the DFA said.
Timor-Leste, the only other Catholic country in the southeast Asian region, is seeking to be a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Philippines was among the countries that helped it transition into an independent country.
Minister Guterres’s previous visit to the Philippines was in January 2007 as a delegate to the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu City when he was Deputy Prime Minister of Timor-Leste.-Interaksyon (February 19, 2013 10:04AM)
Malaysia surpassed Indonesia as the key player in the upstream hydrocarbon industry in Southeast Asia last year, as Indonesia struggles to encourage new investments in the sector amid the nation’s dwindling oil production.
Research by the Wood Mackenzie Group showed Indonesia, the former sole Southeast Asia member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), only contributed 14 percent to the region’s newly discovered oil and gas reserves in 2012.
The Edinburgh-based global energy oil and gas research specialist said that last year, Indonesia discovered 13 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of new reserves in 20 new oil and gas fields.
Malaysia, on the other hand, was the “stand-out performer” in Southeast Asia’s upstream sector with estimated discoveries of 1.4 billion boe last year, or 72 percent of the total discoveries in the region.
At least six new gas fields with combined estimated reserves of 7.3 trillion cubic feet (tcf) discovered in Malaysia were included in the top-10 largest discoveries in Southeast Asia, according to the report.
Malaysia’s state-owned energy company, Petronas Carigali, Swedish oil and gas firm Lundin Petroleum and US-based Murphy Oil were among the most successful players in Malaysia. Murphy, which lost US$214.6 million after discovering dry holes during its four-year explorations off the coast of Papua, Indonesia, was successful off the coast of Sabah, Malaysia, with its three fields holding a combined total of 600 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas reserves.
“The year 2012 was a disappointing year for Indonesia,” Wood Mackenzie said in its report, a copy of which was obtained by The Jakarta Post.
Norwegian Statoil’s two oil and gas fields in the Karama block in the Makassar Strait, Sulawesi, as well as several basins drilled by the Netherlands-owned Pexco in North Sumatra and Italy’s ENI off East Kalimantan were described as “disappointments” by the research group.
Malaysia, which according to Wood Mackenzie had introduced several fiscal initiatives to encourage exploration and development, awarded 13 production sharing contracts (PSCs) in 2012, a record number for any one year.
Overall, the lack of upstream activity in Indonesia, which awarded 20 contracts last year, down from 52 awarded in 2011, as well as in Myanmar, which awarded three licenses, down from 12 in 2011, contributed to a dreary year in terms of licensing activity in Southeast Asia.
With 47 licenses awarded across the region last year, licensing activity was down by 36 percent compared with 2011.
All in all, exploration activity in Southeast Asia fell last year with 190 wells completed, a slight decline from the average of 200 wells completed per year in the past few years, with Thailand and Vietnam experiencing the largest exploration decreases.
Indonesia’s unfavorable policies toward oil and gas firms have been blamed for the steady decline in oil output from 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in the early 2000s to the current figure of around 830,000 bpd as the country merely relies on aging fields.-The Jakarta Post (February 19, 2013 9:04AM)
A committee is now evaluating the best and most affordable missile which will be hopefully installed on the country's two Hamilton-class cutters now in service at the Philippine Navy (PN).
The Department of National Defense (DND) observer said that missiles being evaluated are the anti-ship type which will give the BRP Gregorio Del Pilar (PF-15) and BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PF-16) more capability in protecting the country's maritime domain.
Having the anti-missiles will also give the two ships more firepower in engaging would-be poachers and intruders.
The DND official declined to identify the exact type of missile being studied and stressed that the matter is "top secret".
Some defense officials earlier said that the Harpoon is the ideal missile system for the PN's Hamilton-class cutters as the weapon was already deployed aboard the USCGC Mellon, the sister ship of the BRP Gregorio Del Pilar and BRP Ramon Alcaraz, in January 1990.
The USCGC Mellon also received an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) suite, including the AN/SQS-26 sonar and Mark 46 torpedoes.
The ASW suite and Harpoon capability were removed due to fiscal constraints in the latter part of the 1990s, but served as a proof of capability for all USCG cutters.
The Harpoon is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile system, developed and manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing Defense, Space & Security).
In 2004, Boeing delivered the 7,000th Harpoon unit since the weapon's introduction in 1977. The missile system has also been further developed into a land-strike weapon, the standoff land attack missile.
The regular Harpoon uses active radar homing, and a low-level, sea-skimming cruise trajectory to improve survivability and lethality. The missile's launch platforms include:
* Fixed-wing aircraft (the AGM-84, without the solid-fuel rocket booster).
* Surface ships (the RGM-84, fitted with a solid-fuel rocket booster that detaches when expended, to allow the missile's main turbojet to maintain flight).
* Submarines (the UGM-84, fitted with a solid-fuel rocket booster and encapsulated in a container to enable submerged launch through a torpedo tube).
* Coastal defense batteries, from which it would be fired with a solid-fuel rocket booster.-Philippines News Agency (February 18, 2013)
The Philippines and Indonesia, two of the strongest economies in Asia-Pacific, are also home to the most optimistic consumers in the region, according to a survey by MasterCard.
The latest MasterCard Worldwide IndexTM of Consumer Confidence showed that despite uncertainty in the global economy, consumers in Asia-Pacific are still optimistic.
The Asia-Pacific region saw a slight increase to 59.7 index points from 57.2 in the second half of 2012, with 9 out of 10 countries recording positive sentiment.
"The Asia/Pacific region is increasingly divided between markets that are still closely linked with the global trade cycle, and those that have been able to delink themselves from it. This trend is reflected in the latest MasterCard consumer confidence survey," Dr. Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, global economic advisor for MasterCard Worldwide, said in a statement.
The index showed "extreme improvements" in Indonesia, where consumer confidence jumped 30.1 points from 57.4 to 87.5, and the Philippines, which rose 13.6 points from 65.2 to 78.8.
The Philippines and Indonesia are considered
"bright spots" in the global economy, with their fast-growing economies boosting consumer confidence.
"The strong improvement in consumer sentiment in Indonesia and Philippines are cases in point. The results of the consumer confidence survey provide additional evidence that it is critically important to be able to leverage domestic demand effectively to support economic growth in the context of weakened global demand," Hedrick-Wong said.
On the other hand, the biggest drop in consumer confidence was in South Korea, which fell to negative 38.6 index points from positive 51.3 index points.
The survey was conducted between November 7 to December 23 on 11,339 respondents in 25 countries.-ABS-CBN News (February 18, 2013 11:47AM)
Thailand’s fourth-quarter growth accelerated more than economists estimated, joining Asian nations from Indonesia to the Philippines in showing resilience to the faltering global economy as local demand rises.
Gross domestic product increased 18.9 percent in the three months through December from a year earlier, after expanding a revised 3.1 percent in the previous quarter, the National Economic and Social Development Board said in Bangkok today. That beat the median estimate of 15.3 percent in a Bloomberg News survey and is the fastest since Thailand began compiling data in 1993. The economy grew 6.4 percent in 2012 from 0.1 percent in 2011, when floods swamped most of the country.
Asian leaders from Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to Malaysia’s Najib Razak and Philippine President Benigno Aquino have boosted government spending to support growth as Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis hurt exports. Recoveries in China and the U.S. have improved the outlook for the region, with economies including Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia estimated to report faster GDP growth for the fourth quarter later this week.
“We have stronger consumer power, we have minimum-wage hikes across the Southeast Asian region which is supportive of consumer demand and investment is picking up,” said Enrico Tanuwidjaja, a Singapore-based economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. “The positive growth momentum is likely to continue in 2013 and if exports recovery comes much sooner, the outlook is brighter in this region.”
Thai growth surged last quarter after a slump in the corresponding period in 2011 when the worst floods in almost 70 years disrupted output by manufacturers from Western Digital Corp. to Honda Motor Co. The economy is predicted to expand 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent this year, the agency said today, keeping its earlier forecast. Export growth may be 11 percent, it said.
Political Pressure
The Bank of Thailand last month raised its 2013 GDP forecast to 4.9 percent from an earlier prediction of 4.6 percent, while maintaining its projection for export growth at 9 percent. Overseas sales increased for a fourth month in December, and the manufacturing index climbed for a third straight month.
Thai car sales by all producers reached a record 1.44 million in 2012, Toyota Motor (Thailand) said last month, helped by a tax incentive for first-time buyers. Bank loans grew 13.7 percent last year as companies rebuilt businesses that were devastated by floods at the end of 2011, with Bangkok Bank Pcl, the biggest lender, reporting full-year profit rose 21 percent.
The monetary authority last month held borrowing costs for a second meeting and Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul said he was under no pressure even after Finance Minister Kittiratt Na- Ranong renewed calls for easing to cool the baht’s gains.
Sufficiently Robust
Asian stocks rose toward an 18-month high, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index adding 0.5 percent as of 11:54 a.m. in Tokyo. The yen fell after Group of 20 nations refrained from censuring the nation’s currency policy, while the Thai baht was little changed at 29.87 per dollar as of 11:15 a.m. in Bangkok. It is the biggest gainer in the past six months among 11 widely-traded Asian currencies tracked by Bloomberg.
Malaysia’s growth probably accelerated to 5.5 percent last quarter from a year earlier, after expanding 5.2 percent the previous three months, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey ahead of a Feb. 20 report. Taiwan and Singapore will release final fourth-quarter data two days later, and both are forecast by economists to report growth that is in line with initial estimates.
“We’re not looking for any more interest-rate cuts from Thailand,” Malaysia, Indonesia or the Philippines, said Robert Prior-Wandesforde, a Singapore-based economist at Credit Suisse Group AG. “Growth is sufficiently robust now to mean that the chances of policy-rate reductions are pretty low, and indeed the chances of interest-rate hikes in some of these countries before the end of the year are higher.”
Asset Bubbles
Keeping rates low for a long time may lead to asset bubbles, Prasarn has said. Kittiratt, who has repeatedly called for lower borrowing costs, said this month he wrote a letter to central bank Chairman Virabongsa Ramangkura, reiterating his view that the rate is luring capital inflows. Prasarn last week said the rate differential is not the primary reason for rising inflows.
Thailand needs to reduce money supply, which is the main cause of asset bubbles, and not just low interest rates, Kittiratt said today after the data release. The central bank plans to remove limits on overseas investments by small and medium enterprises, and allow exporters to keep deposits in U.S. dollars to help ease pressure on the baht, he said.
The Philippine central bank has said it is considering more measures to counter the impact of capital inflows on the peso, which has recently strengthened to a record.
The Thai monetary authority will leave its one-day bond repurchase rate unchanged when policy makers meet on Feb. 20, according to 16 of 18 economists in a Bloomberg survey. Two expect a 25 basis-point reduction.
Singapore Exports
Thailand’s economy grew a seasonally adjusted 3.6 percent last quarter from the three months through September, when it expanded a revised 1.5 percent, the agency said today.
Elsewhere in Asia, Singapore’s exports rose less than economists estimated in January. Non-oil domestic exports gained 0.5 percent from a year earlier, a report showed today, compared with the 3 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.
In South Korea, producer prices fell by the most in more than three years, tumbling 1.6 percent in January from a year earlier, a report showed today. In Europe, Spain is scheduled to report bad loans data for December, while the European Central Bank will release current-account data for the same month. U.S. financial markets are closed for Presidents’ Day.-Bloomberg (February 18, 2013 12:33PM)
Followers of a Philippine sultan who crossed to the Malaysian state of Sabah this month will not leave and are reclaiming the area as their ancestral territory, the sultan said Sunday amid a tense standoff.
Sultan Jamalul Kiram said his followers -- some 400 people including 20 gunmen -- were resolute in staying despite being cornered by security forces, with the Kuala Lumpur government insisting the group return to the Philippines.
"Why should we leave our own home? In fact they (the Malaysians) are paying rent (to us)," he told reporters in Manila.
"Our followers will stay in (the Sabah town of) Lahad Datu. Nobody will be sent to the Philippines. Sabah is our home," he said.
The sultan did not directly threaten violence but said "there will be no turning back for us".
Malaysian officials have said that many of the group have weapons, but Kiram insisted his followers made the trip unarmed.
"If they have arms, they were already in Sabah," the sultan said.
The southern Philippine-based Islamic sultanate once controlled parts of Borneo, including the site of the stand-off, and its heirs have been receiving a nominal yearly compensation package from Malaysia under a long-standing agreement for possession of Sabah.
Kiram said he was prompted to send the group to Sabah after the sultanate was left out of a framework agreement sealed in October between Manila and Filipino Muslim rebels, which paves the way for an autonomous area in the southern Philippines that is home to the Muslim minority of the largely-Christian nation.
The sultanate's spokesman, Abraham Idjirani, later said the sultan's brother Raja Muda Abimuddin Kiram, who led the group to Sabah, had told him via telephone that the party was preparing to stay.
"The objective is to reside now in that place permanently, considering the sultanate owns Sabah by rights of sovereignty," he told AFP.
Idjirani said there were about 400 followers of the sultanate in the area, including about 20 who were armed.
On Thursday Malaysian Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein put the number at between 80 to 100 gunmen.
Idjirani said the group would not instigate violence but would resist if provoked.
"We recognize the capability of Malaysia. We don't have the arms and capacity but we have the historical truth," he said, adding that the group's "fate is to see the recognition they are entitled to... or they die defending their ancestral rights".
Idjirani said President Benigno Aquino's senior aides had been in contact with the sultan and were willing to deliver a letter to the Malaysian government on his behalf for negotiations.-ABS-CBN News (February 18, 2013 9:012AM)
Flooding and landslides in the Indonesian province of North Sulawesi have left at least 15 people dead, officials say.
On Sunday thousands of people fled their homes in the provincial capital Manado and surrounding areas to escape the floods.
The water was up to 2m (6ft 6in) deep in some places, a government official told Reuters news agency.
Rescue teams and residents are digging through debris to search for survivors.
Bulldozers and other equipment are being sent to affected areas.
The bodies pulled from the mud on Sunday included those of three children, North Sulawesi police chief Brig-Gen Dicky Atotoy told the Associated Press (AP) news agency.
Residents say they were cleaning debris from a previous landslide when mud and rocks fell down the hills.
"It was horrible. We were immediately fleeing, but some failed and (were) buried in the ground," local official Lucky Sumakud told AP.-British Broadcasting Corporation (February 18, 2013 07:55GMT)
Ong Hui Juan spent nearly four years working in a British bank in Singapore, but decided to leave last year to pursue her passion of working with youth - an unusual and surprising decision in the achievement-oriented city state.
But Ong, 25, is just one of a growing number of young Singaporeans who are turning their backs on the material joys of the long-cherished "Singapore Dream," summed up as the "Five C's" - cash, car, credit card, condominium and country club membership - to do what they enjoy, even at much lower pay.
"I wanted to get out of a nine-to-five job. It was waiting for bonus after bonus, promotion after promotion. That didn't really appeal to me," said Ong, who studied banking and finance at university, but had worked with young people on the side.
"I don't need to be very rich as long as I have enough to get by for myself and my family, and I continue to have the flexible time I have now."
Young people may want to slow down, but the government does not. Singapore has long counted on its people as its biggest resource, the one that helped drive its transformation from a sea port with few natural resources into a key financial centre after independence in 1965.
The government has also placed a strong emphasis on practical skills such as science and mathematics in schools, with Singapore students usually excelling in international tests.
It is just one part of what has made Singapore one of the world's richest countries, with gross domestic product per capita of S$63,050 ($50,123) in 2011, 48 times the level in 1960, according to government statistics.
Not one to rest on its laurels, though, the Singapore government recently released a nearly 80-page "white paper" calling for higher productivity in its workforce and projecting population growth by as much as 30 percent by 2030.
But far from going along, some young Singaporeans feel a sense of disconnect from the traditional paths that are laid out ahead of them as part of this striving - get into a top school, land a high-paying job and hope that their children can build on their achievements.
"The institutional set up of Singapore makes it remain a more materialistic society, when the government always puts economic growth, and therefore materialistic achievement, as a first priority," said Chung Wai Keung, assistant professor of sociology at Singapore Management University.
"When the foundation of Singapore society is getting more secure, the younger generation can afford to make decisions different from the mainstream."
There are signs that more are already doing so, in part because financial firms have been shedding jobs the past few years, said Andrea Ross, Managing Director - Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia, at recruiting consultancy Robert Walters.
"Redundancies across the board are still continuing within financial services globally, and Singapore youngsters are becoming more confident to take up jobs in industries they have a strong personal desire to be part of," she added.
The School of the Arts in Singapore, opened in 2008, has had around 1,000 applicants for only 200 spaces each of the last three years.
MORE FREEDOM
MaryAnn Loo, an artist in her late 20s, said younger people may have greater freedom to pursue their interests as they have been raised in relatively more comfortable conditions than their parents or grandparents.
Loo herself became a full-time artist at the end of last year and is staging her first solo exhibition. She previously studied psychology in university and had worked as a retail assistant and a freelancer on film and TV sets.
"Our parents grew up in a difficult time, and their primary purpose was survival. But I think a lot of people have already gone past the survival stage in Singapore, and therefore they can explore more things," Loo said.
This kind of maverick may still remain in the minority for a while at least, said Tan Ern Ser, an associate professor of sociology at the National University of Singapore.
"Some may well be able to afford 'dropping out' if they have the means, through inheritance, past savings, or having a rich spouse. But for most people, dropping out is not an option, at least not a long-term one," Tan said.
Yet Chung said these young people may ultimately prove to be pioneers.
"When there are more and more young adults making alternative decisions, and when more and more of them feel satisfaction because of their choice, it could reach a tipping point where the next generation will see those alternative options as legitimate," he added.-ABS-CBN News (February 18, 2013 3:58PM)
Former Senate President Ernesto Maceda on Sunday urged the Philippine government to resume active pursuit of the Philippines' claim to Sabah, as the standoff between Malaysian forces and an armed group of followers of the Sultan of Sulu continued in the resource-rich territory.
Maceda, a former ambassador to the United States who once chaired the Senate foreign relations `committee, said in a statement the Sabah issue "has been neglected and sleeping for a long time. It’s time to act to regain what is rightfully ours."
Malacanang Palace, however, remained non-committal as of Sunday on the matter of the government boosting the clamor of the Sultanate of Sulu to revive the Sabah claim, saying no comments are forthcoming until the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has fully briefed the Executive.
Maceda said in his statement, “The people of the Sultanate of Sulu have a legitimate claim to Sabah considering that the British and Malaysian governments used to pay rentals for Sabah to the Sultan of Sulu.” According to one of the heirs of the sultanate interviewed by InterAksyon.com earlier, the check payments to cover rentals had not stopped.
According to Maceda, “renewed government efforts is the only way to stop the followers of the Sultan of Sulu from taking up arms and invading Sabah to press their claim."
Palace keeps discreet distance
Malacanang Palace, however, kept a discreet distance from the issue on Sunday.
Responding to journalists’ questions on whether the Palace planned to field an emissary to one of the heirs, Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, to ask him to recall his followers from Sabah; and whether Manila will actively seek talks to revive the Sabah claim, Deputy Palace Spokesperson Abigail Valte said on state-run Radyo ng Bayan, “At this point, [we won’t comment yet].
We’d like to defer comment on that and the DFA will be the one who will give us updates on the situation in Sabah if and when they deem it to be necessary.”
The Malaysian authorities have reacted to the presence of the large group of “intruders” by deploying hundreds of troops on sea and land patrols, but assured Manila that the matter will be resolved peacefully.
At the weekend, the Philippine government said ensuring the safety of Filipinos on the island is its main concern, and appealed for a peaceful resolution of the matter.
But certain political leaders, notably another ex-Senate president, Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Maceda, have indicated that the standoff just won’t go away unless the root issue---the Sabah claim that has found no closure over nearly half a century---is addressed decisively. Pimentel, whose policy studies center at the University of Makati sponsored a forum in late 2011 on the Sabah claim, told InterAksyon.com earlier the Philippine government must ensure “our Muslim brothers and sisters” get their due---a remark seen as frowning on simply conceding the matter.
The Sunday statement from Maceda, who is seeking a Senate seat anew under the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), noted that the Sultanate of Sulu ceded to the Philippine government its title and sovereignty to then President Diosdado Macapagal in 1962. "The Philippine government should now seriously consider bringing its claim to the United Nations," Maceda said.-Interaksyon (February 17, 2013 2:44PM)
Singapore - Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew has been discharged from hospital after being confined due to an irregular heartbeat, the government said Sunday.
A statement from the office of his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said the 89-year-old former leader was resting at home.
"The doctors are following up with him to optimise his anti-coagulation therapy, in order to minimise the risk of further transient ischaemic attacks," it said.
A transient ischaemic attack occurs when blood flow to a part of the brain stops briefly and a person who suffers from this will display stroke-like symptoms which could clear in a day, according to an earlier statement.
The elder Lee was confined at the Singapore General Hospital on Friday. The latest statement did not say when he was discharged.
Lee Kuan Yew, who retired from the cabinet in 2011 but remains a member of parliament, is widely credited with transforming Singapore from an economic backwater to one of Asia's fastest-growing economies.
He served as prime minister from 1959, when Singapore gained self-rule from colonial ruler Britain, until he stepped down in 1990 in favour of his deputy Goh Chok Tong, who in turn handed power to Lee's son in 2004.
In November 2011, his physician daughter Lee Wei Ling revealed that the former prime minister was suffering from a neurological disease that makes it difficult for him to walk steadily.
Lee, a longtime fitness buff, has visibly slowed since his wife of 63 years Kwa Geok Choo died in 2010. -Rappler (February 17, 2013 5:52PM)
A series of blasts shook a town in the restive Thai south leaving three dead and 17 wounded, officials said Sunday, February 17, days after a major attack on a military base in the unrest-hit region.
Three bombs have exploded in the provincial town of Pattani since late Saturday, February 16, while police said four more devices had been defused, in the latest attacks to rock the Thai south, where thousands have died in a nine-year insurgency.
The National Security Council, said the incident was linked to Wednesday's failed assault on a military base in neighbouring Narathiwat province that left 16 militants dead -- one of the bloodiest incidents in the conflict.
"The militants want to show their power," NSC secretary general Paradorn Pattanathabutr told AFP.
A blast at around noon on Sunday in the centre of Pattani town killed a local security volunteer instantly, police said. Hospital staff said two defence volunteers later died of their wounds, while around 17 people, including civilians, were injured.
The attacks began with two fire bombs on Saturday night which damaged local shops.
Thailand's southernmost provinces near the Malaysian border suffer almost daily gun and bomb attacks by shadowy insurgents fighting for greater autonomy.
More than 5,500 people, both Buddhist and Muslim, have been killed in the bloody conflict since early 2004.
Members of Thailand's security forces and civilians accused of collaboration with the authorities are frequently targeted with ambushes and roadside bombs.
Wednesday's attack saw the military repel an assault by scores of heavily-armed gunmen who stormed the Narathiwat army base.
The NSC's Paradorn said suspected insurgents could go on to attack a third province in the violence-plagued region.
"They have to change their targets because of heightened security in the areas targeted earlier... Once they stop actions in Pattani, we have to be concerned about Yala. But there is tight security in all areas," he said.-Rappler (February 17, 2013 7:55PM)
At least 13 people were killed over the weekend in Indonesia after heavy rains triggered floods and landslides, officials said Sunday, February 17.
Flooding and landslides hit North Sulawesi province's capital city Manado early Sunday, killing 10 people and prompting another 1,200 to be evacuated, national disaster management agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.
On Saturday, February 16, three people including two 14-year-old boys were killed after they were swept away by floodwaters in Jambi province on Sumatra island, local disaster official Dalmanto told AFP.
"Several days of heavy rains caused a river to break its banks and flood smaller waterways. The boys were taken away by strong currents as they were bathing in a waterway," he said.
"And today, we found the body of a man who went fishing in a canal."
Indonesia has been repeatedly afflicted by deadly floods and landslides in recent years during its wet season which lasts around half the year.
Environmentalists blame logging and a failure to reforest denuded land in the world's fourth-most populous country for the frequent flooding.
Heavy rains caused flooding in the capital Jakarta in January that left 32 people dead and at its peak forced nearly 46,000 to flee their homes.-Rappler (February 17, 2013 7:14PM)
Singapore's biggest protest in decades shows that the ruling party for over half a century is facing a more vocal electorate and must change or watch its popularity slide further, analysts say.
At least 2,000 Singaporeans chanted "we want change" and endured heavy downpours on Saturday, February 16, to reject government immigration proposals, in a rare demonstration in the tightly controlled city-state of 5.3 million people.
Although low by global standards the turnout was the largest in some years in Singapore, where the People's Action Party (PAP) has traditionally responded to any dissent with a firm hand, and provides the government with much to consider.
"I think that gradually the anti-PAP sentiment will build and spread unless there's a very fundamental change in the way the PAP deals with the people, which I don't see happening," political analyst Seah Chiang Nee told AFP.
"I think there's going to be a further decline in the popularity of the PAP between now and 2016," added Seah, who runs the political website www.littlespeck.com, referring to the next general elections.
For most people at the rally, held at a designated free-speech corner after a Facebook campaign, it was their first time waving placards and chanting slogans against the PAP, which has ruled Singapore for almost 54 years.
Eugene Tan, an assistant law professor at the Singapore Management University, said the high turnout showed "we now have a more contested political landscape and the PAP will have to deal with a more vocal electorate".
The PAP, long used to winning districts uncontested, has seen its support slide since a general election in May 2011 when it recorded is lowest ever share of the vote at 60 percent and the opposition won an unprecedented six parliamentary seats.
Since then, the PAP has lost two by-elections, although it still controls 80 of the 87 seats in parliament.
"PAP leaders seem to have lost their feel of the ground. Their technocratic decision-making style is no longer accepted, yet they persist in 'we know best' policies," said Reuben Wong, associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore.
Saturday's protesters were rallying against government projections that the population could rise by a third to almost seven million in less than 20 years, with much of the increase resulting from immigration.
For years, the affluent but worker-starved city-state, built by mainly Chinese immigrants, had rolled out the welcome mat for foreigners, whose numbers rose drastically during the economic boom from 2004-2007.
Businesses hired construction workers from Bangladesh, hotel staff from the Philippines, waitresses from China, shipyard welders from Myanmar, technology professionals from India and bankers from the west.
Foreigners currently make up 38 percent of the population and the low Singapore birth rate means immigrants and guest workers will need to fill the manpower gap, raising that figure to 45 percent.
However, anger over the projections is causing Singaporeans to engage in something new -- speaking out against the PAP in public and not just in social media
"I'm thinking about my children, who are going to have a big problem studying in a competitive society next time," tax consultant Kevin Foo, 42, told AFP at the rally.
"Foreigners are going to create a lot of problems here, especially the rich ones who buy up all our property. Where are Singaporeans going to live?"-Rappler (February 17, 2013 3:02PM)
