China abolishes Chinese New Year reunion dinners

OK, OK I exaggerate. It’s only cancelled if you live in Wuhan and yr family lives elsewhere.

Public transport in Wuhan is suspended from Thursday morning in an effort to contain the outbreak of a deadly Sars-like virus. Residents are urged not to leave the city except under special circumstances. To enforce this encouragement, the airport and train stations temporarily are closed, news agencies cited Chinese state media as saying on Wednesday night.

More at https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51215348

Btw, trumpets please: SARS all over again.

Based on joint salaries, what properties available

Here’s a great table from “Here’s the salary you need to earn to afford these homes in Singapore”

https://www.asiaone.com/money/heres-salary-you-need-earn-afford-these-homes-singapore?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR12OUteKQMsmv0WkK7l_waW3MOmm7KPj8gMguNipQlWv3880_5O4Dhoo04#Echobox=1579565572

Btw, nothing great about our property mkt in 2020

The prime sales market in Singapore had an active 2019 despite the cooling measures in place. The city benefited from rising affluence among residents and interest from international buyers. Small price rises are expected in 2020 triggered by pent-up demand.

Sophie Chick, head of Savills world research

Not like M’sia or Manila.

Related posts:

Why S’pore is so shiok for private property investors

Ang moh’s great insight on property mkt

Buying homes the billionaire way: two luxury homes are better than one

Why S$73.8m flat is a steal

But don’t get overgeared: TRE cybernuts and central bank singing from the same song sheet

Another reason to introduce minimum wages

Advocates claim that minimum wages help boost earnings in industries with too little competition, and prevent workers from being exploited. But critics (think our very own PAP govt) maintain that, by setting an arbitrary floor on pay, minimum wages reduce overall employment, particularly among low-skilled workers, and that it will make S’pore less competitive. But then How come HK got minimum wages but more competitive?

The evidence is mixed.

Now a group of epidemiologists at Emory University in Atlanta say higher minimum wages are linked to lower suicide rates i.e. the minimum wage helps reduce suicide rates in the US: https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/01/20/higher-minimum-wages-are-linked-to-lower-suicide-rates

Related reading:

Subsidising wage rises good, Minimum Wage bad

Improve Workfare not press for Minimum Wage