A10 MY MONEY MY PAPER MONDAY OCTOBER 5, 2009

mONEY
WEEKLY FOR WEEK
SEPT 25 - OCT 2
FOR WEEK
SEPT 25 - OCT 1
FOR WEEK
SEPT 25 - 30 STRAITS TIMES INDEX
WATCH NEW YORK

1.84%
LONDON

1.84%
TOKYO

5.20%
HONG KONG

3.09%
SEOUL

2.77%
SHANGHAI

2.09%
3,000

DOW JONES IA FTSE 100 NIKKEI HANG SENG KOSPI COMPOSITE INDEX 2,600
9,487.67 4,988.70 9,731.87 20,375.49 1,644.63 2,779.43
(-177.52) (-93.50) (-543.11) (-648.91) (-48.85) (-59.41)
2,200

FOR WEEK SEPT 25 - OCT 2 1,800

AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR EURO STERLING POUND US DOLLAR YEN (100 units)
1,400
Sept ’08 Nov Jan ’09 Mar May July Sept

2.19%
0.41% 0.40% 1.02% 1.01% 0.44% 0.40% 0.22% 0.21% 1.48% 1.47%

1.2190 1.2560 2.0450 2.0680 2.2400 2.2660 1.4080 1.4240 1.5730 1.5910 2,604.53 (-58.29)
Sept 25 - Oct 2
BUY SELL BUY SELL BUY SELL BUY SELL BUY SELL

S’pore co-ops going strong

fight the credit crunch. they can play a significant role,
They stay relevant but must not expose members’ These are some reasons why including eldercare and health
funds to too much risk, says Balakrishnan co-ops remain relevant. Said Dr care, said Mr Chan Tee Seng,
MAGNUS CFO MOVES Balakrishnan: “In order to in- chairman of the Singapore Na-
crease the impact of co-ops and tional Co-operative Federation.
TO EASTGATE TECH their contribution to economic As for Premier Security, the
KOH HUI THENG Regis Singapore hotel. growing demand for security
recovery, we should continue to
WONG SIEW CHUAN: Minister for Community promote the co-op model.” services is clearly a boon.
Appointed chief financial Development, Youth and Sports However, in their pursuit for “The threat of international
Vivian Balakrishnan lauded the

officer of Eastgate Tech-
nology, an optical media-
solutions provider.
Ms Wong, 43, will
oversee the group’s finance
functions, including tax,
treasury, insurance, capital
and risk management, and
general management of the
S
ET up 25 years ago to pro-
vide jobs for retired police
officers and their counter-
parts in the armed forces, Pre-
mier Security Co-operative has
grown into a prominent player
in the security industry in Singa-
pore today.
The co-op has 500 members
time-tested model of self-help,
which has served co-op mem-
bers well.
He said: “Co-operatives can
play a significant role in pro-
moting economic growth and
contributing to (Singapore’s)
recovery.”
commercial success, co-ops terrorism means security is a
must not expose members’ sunrise industry,” said Premier
funds to excessive risk, the min- managing director Saraj Din.
ister stressed.
“Our key role is not to gener- kohht@sph.com.sg
ate high returns, but to generate
sustainable returns and provide
the right risk-reward ratios for HELPDESK
our members.”
company’s subsidiaries.
Ms Wong was previously
the CFO of Magnus Energy
 zì zhù
Group.
RAFFLES MEDICAL
NAMES 2 DIRECTORS
Ϯ
OLIVIER LIM:
Appointed independent
director of Raffles Medical
Group.
Mr Lim, 45, is currently
the group chief financial
officer of CapitaLand.
Raffles Medical also
announced Mr Tham Kui
Seng’s appointment as
independent director.
Mr Tham, 51, was
formerly the chief corpo-
rate officer of CapitaLand,
overseeing the corporate-
services functions of the
real-estate group.
THE HOUR GLASS
GETS NEW MD
WONG MEI LING:
Appointed managing
director of Singapore at
The Hour Glass.
Ms Wong, 37, will be
responsible for leading the
growth and development of
the group’s Singapore
business.
Ms Wong was previously
general manager of LVMH
Watch & Jewellery
Singapore.
and a $12-million turnover, up
from last year’s $10.3 million.
Premier Security’s growth
shows that co-ops can be com-
mercially profitable too.
This topic, among others,
was discussed at yesterday’s An-
nual Co-operative Leaders’ Con-
ference 2009, held at the St.
China may limit top
bankers’ pay to $580k
BEIJING: China said little when
the Group of 20 called for an
end to “excessive” pay for top
finance executives, who make
far less here than in the West.
However, Beijing has been
mulling over how to handle the
issue for months.
The government has said
that it wants to reduce salary
gaps in the 135 state-run com-
panies under its direct control,
including banks, in the name of
creating a more “just” society.
In April, the finance ministry
ordered that last year’s pay for
top executives at state financial
institutions not exceed 90 per
cent of their earnings the year
before – and less if their firms
have suffered major losses.
The ministry has floated the
idea of limiting the gross salary
of banking bosses to 2.8 mil-
lion yuan (S$580,000) a year
– a far cry from the millions
Despite the downturn, when
private enterprises are downsiz-
ing, co-ops have retained their
workforce and some have even
increased their staff strength,
said Dr Balakrishnan.
Thrift-and-loan societies
have also provided loans to Sin-
gapore businesses to help them
raked in by their American and
European counterparts, even
during the global crisis.
The plan has not been
approved, but some observers
say China’s banking industry
will be hard-pressed to attract
top talent.
“That level of annual salary
will not be enough to attract
the top financial elite with am-
ple experience in the overseas
banking sector,” said analyst
Liao Fei in Shanghai.
Beijing-based economist Hu
Xingdou said the size of pay
packages was not that relevant,
because if executives “leave be-
cause of the salary limitation,
they will easily be replaced”.
He noted that firms did not
need to recruit at the highest
level like their Western counter-
parts, as the state enterprises
“make enormous profits due to
their monopolistic positions”.
– AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Co-ops, which started in Sin-
gapore in the 1920s, are busi-
nesses with a social mission that
are jointly owned and control-
led by members. There are more
than 80 registered co-ops here,
with over a million members.
Meanwhile, co-ops need to
identify niche areas in which
OCBC Bank savings plan
for kids goes to Malaysia
SINGAPORE: OCBC Bank has
extended its Mighty Savers Pro-
gramme, a children’s savings
initiative, to its subsidiary in
Malaysia.
Originally developed for the
bank’s Singapore market, the
programme was also launched
in Indonesia in July.
Said Mr Nicholas Tan, head
of global wealth management
at OCBC: “Through our conver-
sations with parents in this re-
gion, we understand that, in-
creasingly, many of them find it
challenging to educate their
children on the merit of saving.
“Hence, our programme –
which aims to make saving fun
for children through the intro-
duction of various tools and ac-
tivities – strikes a chord with
Asian parents as it helps incul-
cate the virtue of saving.”
The Mighty Savers Pro-
Co-op:  hé zuò shè
Self-help:
Relevant: 

yǒu shí jì jià zhí de
Sunrise industry:
cháo yáng gōng yè
gramme was introduced in Sin-
gapore in February 2007 to
help parents help their children
understand and develop the
habit of saving.
All young customers up to
age 15 who open savings ac-
counts with the bank are auto-
matically enrolled in the pro-
gramme.
Since its launch, OCBC
Bank has seen a three-fold in-
crease in the number of chil-
dren’s saving accounts being
opened, said the bank.
The launch of the pro-
gramme in Indonesia and Ma-
laysia is aligned with OCBC’s
strategic plan to deepen its mar-
ket penetration in the region
through a build-and-transfer
approach, said the bank.
This involves transferring
successful business models and
product solutions to existing
branches and alliances in over-
seas markets.