Cambodia property

Phnom Penh appears to be the next hot destination for property investors. I wasn't really into Cambodia until i saw the advertisement by Oxley for The Peak.  The thing that attracted me to this development is that it is in the same complex as the new Shangri-La Cambodia and the location. 

I have stayed in quite a lot of Shangri-La hotels in Asia and usually their choice of location is pretty good. Shangri-la Manila is right in the heart of Makati and next to the green belt. Shangri-La KL is along Bukit Bintang. Shangri-La Bangkok is along the Chao Phraya river. Shangri-La Yangoon is a little hard to say but appears central as i can't quite figure out where exactly is central in Yangoon. Shangri-La jakarta may be a little out of where the action is but still in central jakarta. Therefore it sparked my interest to check the location of The Peak out. 

I have a slight advantage here as i have been to most major cities Asia Pacific and to Cambodia a few times too. Each time i will stay at the NagaWorld Hotel which is also a casino for those not familiar and the only casino in the capital city. To the locals it is a five star hotel but for us it is more like a 3-4 star. In this hotel, you can see a lot of mainland chinese here to gamble and have some fun. They are also building a underground shopping mall called 'City Walk'.

The Peak is located behind NagaWorld and near to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Assembly. It is opposite the diamond island which has a convention center and a pipeline of several new developments. There is also a AEON mall within 5 minutes walk and the development itself will have 5 floors of retail stores. The main selling point to me for this development is the location and the prestige of having the Shangri-La brand name in the same premises. I bought a unit on the 17th floor and it is east and river facing which overlook the diamond island. In a few years time, this area of Phnom Penh will for sure look drastically different as many developments are already in the pipeline. Feels and sounds like the new gold rush.

With much of its population living below the poverty line, this doesn't appear a very sound investment. Therefore, you can forget about reselling to the locals but perhaps the expatriates or leasing to the diplomatic staffs as it is right in the embassy area. However, I am seeing it more as a growth region together with the whole indo-china region. I can sense that they may be trying to position this as the 'playground' for Asians with the casino and the very 'liberal' culture there. I don't really have much of a feel of their domestic economy which i think they are behind or will be even further behind Vietnam. Strangely there are not even in the Transpacific Pacific Partnership (TPP) unlike Vietnam and their major industry is garment manufacturing. Probably they are still under the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) Status thus do not need to pay taxes anyway for US and Europe. The economic outlook appear uncertain except for tourism. It is only a short flight for many Asian countries wanting some fun in this sin city. Time will tell if this investment is the right decision. Fingers crossed!

Singapore is top five in the crony-capitalism Index

After hearing Tan Jee Say's rally today online about singapore being ranked top 5 in the crony-capitalism index, it need to see it for myself. Yes, he is right. This was published by the economist. Well, as this blog is also about rankings of singapore, for better or worst this has to go up too.

Golf membership

This is the latest golf club membership compiled by the straits times. All should be true except Jurong Country Club which should be quite worthless now that the high speed rail will be in Jurong East.

World Happiness Report

Well, who says we are a grouchy and unhappy nation? Latest world happiness report shows that we are ranked number 24 in the whole and that's the highest among all asian countries. Just to give some reference to this report, Japan is 46 and hong kong is 72. I have always thought that we are not as unhappy as we were made out to be.

Singapore overtakes Finland to be number 1 in Network Readiness Index

Well, the title says it all. Well done again for an Asian country to be ranked not just among the top but at the top.

Iskandar oversupply

Is there oversupply in Iskandar? I am not surprised as highlighted in several of my articles that johor doesn't have the population or demand to sustain such boom in constructions. Now there are cautions from Maybank. There's also a good article by CNA showing Iskandar's properties are underperforming as compared to other cities. So buyer beware!

Tribute to Mr Lee Kuan Yew

Rest in peace Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Thank you for your foresight and commitment. Singapore has come so far because of you. You'll be missed.

Somerset Puteri Harbour in Iskandar

Somerset Puteri Harbour is finally ready. They are renting out the first floor only as far as I know. These are their staffs at the front desk.  The public can already start booking on Somerset's official website or any other travel websites.

The so called shop area seems to be walled up. Hope they will be removed or these could simply become a vacant walkway without any life.

The harbor facing units and again pretty much all walled up on the first floor.

Let's see how it looks when it is fully ready.

Golf membership in Singapore

Golf membership has fallen significantly over the past years according to an article compiled by the straits times. This is good news for avid golfers. This is really cheap as compared to years ago during its heydays. Jurong Country Club is now only $43k and this is one of the few in Singapore with night golf.

However, with so many choices in the region especially across the causeway, golf membership seems to be really less appealing. Golfers also likes varieties (even if you likes chicken rice you wouldn't want to eat every day right?) but of course some may still want the prestige of owning a local golf membership. With such low prices, not sure if they are really prestigious anymore with the exception of Sentosa, SICC and TMCC of course.

S'pore is second again in the talent index 2014

Singapore is once again ranked second in the 2014 Global Talent Competitiveness Index. That's the same rank as last year. Denmark has dropped a few spots while Luxembourg rose a few. You can compare the index by clicking my label for GTCI. 

Singaproe No.2 on Safe Cities Index

Singapore is again ranked number 2 in Safety, just behind Tokyo. This is according to the Safe Cities Index. I am a little surprised to see Ho Chi Minh City ranked so low, even behind Shenzhen, New Delhi and Mumbai.

Index of Economic Freedom

Singapore is only about 0.2 points away from Hong Kong which is ranked as the freest economy in the world. This is according to the Index of Economic Freedom. 

Upon closer look, it may not be so difficult to overtake Hong Kong. Singapore fell short in these few categories, investment freedom and financial freedom.  These two categories are the main culprits.

Where do you stand?

This is the latest figures by salary.sg. It shows the top 10th percent earning an average of $28,688 while the lowest 10th percent eating on $1,711. This is a big income disparity. This should be accurate as the numbers where taken from the Singapore Department of statistics. 

Well, now you know. Are you happy or ignorance is bliss?