Established in 1999

Planners expect the population of Singapore to reach 5.5 million by 2040 or 2050, taking into account an expected increase in the number of foreigners working here. From just 3 million in 1990, the number has swelled to 3.9 million today, including 700 000 foreigners.

A high-level working committee is now looking at ways to encourage more couples to have babies. Demographer Saw Swee Hock says that if the fertility rate continues to stay below two, the population here, minus the foreigners, will peak at about 3.3 million in 2025 and then begin to drop.

Singapore's water is clean and safe to drink from the tap. There is no need to boil it.

The Editor

Raymond Han

You can e-mail him at editor@getforme.com

The WEATHER TODAY: Showers with thunder expected in the afternoon over many areas. WATER TIDES High tide 11.20 am 2.8m 11.15 pm 2.9m SUN Sunrise 6.57 am Sunset 7.07 pm MOON Moonrise 6.56 am Moonset 7.24 pm PSI: 57 (moderate) TEMPERATURE: 24-32 degrees Celsius (updated daily at 7am Singapore time)

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Yesterday May 2000 Apr 2000 Mar 2000 Feb 2000 Jan 2000 1999

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Home Loan Part 1
Before you go around searching for that new home of yours, it's a good practice to know what lies ahead so that as you shop for your new home, you can pick up the information needed for the critical home loan. That way, you will not waste time moving to and fro or get your hopes too high up on acquiring that dream property.
First and foremost, know that banks do not finance in full the purchase price of the property. Here, please familiarise yourself with two terms: purchase price and valuation price. These two terms are important because in many cases, the purchase price (price at which you intend to buy the property) may be much HIGHER than the valuation price (price at which professional valuers put a tag on the property).
Banks do not look at the purchase price when they work out how much to lend you. So, put that out of the way. What they want to know is the valuation price of the property. Currently, banks lend up to 80% of the valuation price. So, if your dream home is being sold to you at, say S$1200 000 (purchase price) and the professional valuer comes to take a look and say it's worth S$1000 000 (valuation price), the bank will only lend you up to 80% of S$1000 000 = S$800 000. You have to come up with the balance of S$400 000 in cash (S$1200 000 - S$800 000). And you can't use your CPF for this.
But, don't worry your head over this point too much, for the bank will come to your rescue and pump in another S$200 000 on top of the S$800 000 to help you complete your purchase. That means you only need to raise S$200 000 in cash. How does the bank do it? The bank will give you, on top of your home loan, another loan known as bridging loan. It's merely an overdraft facility (pay interest on whatever amount you use only) for a period of six months. This bridging loan is particularly suitable for buyers of properties who wish to sell an existing property in order to buy another. In this case, the bridging loan is repaid when the existing property is sold and the money comes in.

What we have seen so far is this: home loan (80%) + bridging loan (20%) = 100%. That's what the bank means when they tell you they can provide 100% financing for your property. So, don't get carried away because this isn't really 100% financing. Back in the mid 1990s, banks gave pure 100% financing, which meant you needn't use a bridging loan at all. MORE...

If you have any comments or questions, please e-mail us at editor@getforme.com .

NEW WEBSITES
Biz-Calendar.com is a personal e-organiser, scheduler, reminder (through phone & pager), and Unified Messaging Service (UMS). You can download real-time web pages to fax machines. It also has English & Chinese email readers.
AF2000 is Temasek Polytechnic's 3rd international Singapore Animation Fiesta 2000 website. The festival runs from 9 - 11 June 2000 at SICEC Suntec City.
asianparenting.com was launched on 2 May 2000. It addresses the concerns of Asian parents and has articles dealing with family planning, pregnancy, birth issues and childcare matters. It also has an ovulation calculator, gender predictor and name finder for new parents.
Moms4moms.org is a website on mums for mums by mums.
bowtieAsia.com dedicates itself to linking e-angels to promising Internet & Infocomm Start-Up Companies.
Eyeball.com.sg or the print version, a morning tabloid, Project Eyeball, is a new newspaper set to hit the streets and the cyber-highways in the middle of the year. Coming to you from Singapore Press Holdings (SPH).
GettingHere.com, which offers listings of short-haul tour packages tour operators want to sell off quickly, will be launched on 17 May 2000. Click GettingHere.com for a preview.

BANKmates: Get a Personal Assistant to do your errands in Singapore.

SporesCity

The Singaporean website community Set up your company's website here. More...

We are now 504 pages thick and growing.
New! The new Cartier boutique has opened at Ngee Ann City #01-33 & #02-04. Tel: (65) 734 2427.
Renamed! The Lasalle International Design School is now Raffles Lasalle International Design School.

GOVERNMENT SNIPPETS
Singapore High Commission in London has launched its website.

NEW: Subscribe to our Weekly Internet Edition mailing list so that we can keep you informed of the latest happenings in Singapore. To subscribe, click SINGAPORE.

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GOVERNMENT MATTERS
Singapore Government Website   Police Ministry Of Education Consular Matters & Migrating (known as permanent residency)
Setting up a business? Do a free Name Search first to see whether the name you want is available. Click RCB.
BUILDINGS TO BE PULLED DOWN
The 17-storey Cathay Building, which houses Cathay Cinema (opened on 3 Oct 1939), is to make way for a new 15-storey shopping-office-cinema complex. It was completed in 1941.

EscapeArtist.Com The website on overseas living for international job seekers and expatriates.
ExpatSingapore For expatriates planning to relocate to Singapore. Provides excellent information on Singapore.
ContactSingapore Step-by-step guide to applying for a job, getting an employment pass, remuneration structure and corporate culture.
Useful Services Relocating to Singapore?
     The Singapore Jewellers' Association (SJA) has advised tourists to buy jewellery from retailers accredited with the Singapore Jewellers' Association or who carry the Jeweller Trust or Case Trust logo. Its announcement follows a series of complaints by tourists from China who told the Chinese daily, Lianhe Zaobao that they were "ripped off" by jewellers in Singapore who sold them fake products.

TOURISTS
Tourism Board
Tourist Arrival Statistics
To get free copies of brochures on Singapore, including Singapore Official Guide, please click HERE.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Low Lying Areas In Singapore Lists the flood-prone areas in Singapore.
Things you should know Tells you things you need to be aware of.

The top ten fiction and non-fiction titles sold at these bookstores last week

Top Ten KINOKUNIYA Bestsellers

Top Ten BORDERS Bestsellers

Top Ten MPH Bestsellers

Top Ten TIMES Bestsellers

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Thursday 4 May 2000

A teenager was yesterday jailed for a week and fined the maximum of S$250 for throwing 13 durian husks out of a window of his 13th-storey flat. Nobody was hurt by the falling rubbish.

Police said they have identified the flat from which the flower pot that killed five-year-old Cheryl Goh could have fallen. It has been suggested that the pot could have been dislodged by strong winds.

Pulau Ubin, long exempt from mainland Singapore's traffic rules, will soon lose that status, the Land & Transport Authority (LTA) announced yesterday. Motorists there will have to get driving licences and send their vehicles for yearly checkups as the government imposes standard traffic rules from next year.

Asthma cases here have doubled over the past decade, said the Singapore Asthma Association (SAA). About 140000 Singaporeans have asthma now and about 150 die from it annually. While about 5 to 8% of the present population are asthmatic, about 20% of children are affected, said Dr Yeo Chor Tzien, president of the SAA, on World Asthma Day yesterday.

Asia

Tokyo: A youth brandishing a knife hijacked a bus yesterday, stabbed to death at least one passenger, and demanded cash and a handgun in a standoff with police that stretched into the night. As police chased the 40-seater bus down a highway, two other hostages leapt through windows to escape the mayhem inside.

Around the world

New York: First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton says that if she loses the US Senate race in New York, she will probably end up in academia or the foundation world.

Courtesy of The Straits Times

News updated by 8.00 am daily.

SINGAPORE SLING

30ml Gin

15ml Cherry Brandy

120ml Pineapple Juice

15ml Lime Juice

7.5ml Cointreau

7.5ml Dom Benedictine

10ml Grenadine

A dash of Angostura Bitters

Garnish with a slice of pineapple & cherry

The Singapore Sling was created by Raffles Hotel bartender Mr Ngiam Tong Boon.

ECONOMY

The consumer price index (CPI) for March 2000 dipped by 0.3% compared to February 2000. Food prices fell by 1.6% due mainly to cheaper seafood, vegetables and fresh pork. The cost of transport and communications fell by 0.2% due to falling car prices.

The CPI is used as an inflation gauge by measuring the change in the prices of a fixed basket of goods purchased commonly by most households.

The Government has forecast that inflation will be within 2% this year.