Housing ownership curbs protect Brunei real estate market (The Brunei Times)

This came out on the July 6, 2013 issue of The Brunei Times. Click here for original story

Housing ownership curbs protect Brunei real estate market

In Brunei, the housing market is still largely a domestic play and the rise and fall of interest rates does not change demand as quickly or dramatically as in other markets in Asia. Picture: BT file

Jennee Grace U Rubrico
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Saturday, July 6, 2013

THE move to limit ownership of residential property to locals caps foreign investments in the segment but also protects Brunei from fluctuations in the real estate market, a property expert said.

In an email interview with The Brunei Times recently, Dr Chua Yang Liang, head of research for Southeast Asia at global property consultancy firm Jones Lang LaSalle, said that the Sultanate's housing market was "relatively stable" because of limitations set by the government.

Under the law, only Bruneians can own landed property in the country. Foreigners and permanent residents can only hold properties under strata titles or long-term leasehold rights. Last month, most banks stopped granting housing loan applications from permanent residents and foreigners to reflect the edict.

"While the long-term lease structure has effectively made the housing market available to foreigners, nevertheless, it is still fairly limited and has capped the level of investment in the domestic housing market," Chua said.

"Equally, this has benefited the domestic market as it does not have that destabilising effect that speculation brings as can be seen by the number of anti-speculation policies that governments in Hong Kong, China and Singapore have put in place to cool down their housing markets," she added.

Speculation is the practice of engaging in financial transactions and turning around to profit from fluctuations in the market value of the products.

Chua noted that the Brunei property market "is generally less transparent compared to other mature Asian countries such as Hong Kong or Singapore".

"However, it is also ...not overly affected by the effect of hot money floating around in Asia," she said, referring to money that flows quickly out of markets that give little returns into those offering the highest yields.

Chua also said that because the residential real estate market in the country was driven largely by people buying homes for their own use rather than as investments, changes in interest rates for housing loans are not likely to have an immediate and direct impact on demand.

The Autoriti Monetari Brunei Darussalam (AMBD) in March imposed a maximum effective interest rate or annualised profit rate of not more than 4.5 per cent per annum on housing loans, as part of efforts to enhance the financial infrastructure and inculcate sound financial management among debtors.

"In Brunei, as the housing market is still largely a domestic play, the rise and fall of interest rates may not change demand as quickly or dramatically as you expect unlike other markets in Asia. Investment demand (here) is fairly limited."

Data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which were sourced from the Department of Economic Planning and Development show no foreign direct investments coming in for real estate, renting and business activity in 2011. In 2009 and 2010, the sector saw $3 million in foreign direct investments per year, while in 2007 and 2008, it logged $2 million in foreign direct investments per year.

Chua, however, said that while there was little interest among regional developers to enter Brunei's residential real estate market, "if domestic demand in Brunei was to enjoy a sustained rise, then this might arouse interest among domestic developers".

Reflecting strong demand for housing, mortgage has the second biggest share in the loan portfolios of commercial banks in the country, after personal loans. The latest data from the central bank which are cited by the IMF show that mortgage totalling $1.326 billion accounted for 26 per cent of the $5.09 billion in loans extended by commercial banks in 2011.

The share of mortgage in the banks' loan portfolios has been increasing over the past three years, from 18.6 per cent in 2009 and 23.6 per cent in 2010, data show. As of the third quarter of 2012, mortgage made up 27.1 per cent of the total loans extended by commercial banks. The Brunei Times

Over $500m spent on fuel subsidies in 2011 (The Brunei Times)

Published in the April 20, 2013 issue of The Brunei Times. Click here for original article. 

Over $500m spent on fuel subsidies in 2011, strain on coffers

Jennee Rubrico
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Saturday, April 20, 2013

THE sultanate spent more than half a billion Brunei dollars on fuel subsidies in 2011, putting a "tremendous strain" on the national coffers, an official of the Asian Development Bank told The Brunei Times.

Minsoo Lee, senior economist in the Macroeconomics and Finance Research Division of the Economics and Research Department of ADB, said in an email interview that the sultanate spent US$470 million ($580.283 million) on general fuel subsidies in 2011.

This meant that the government shouldered US$1,159, or $1,431.84, of the fuel costs of each person in the country, he added.

"The government provides very generous subsidies to ordinary citizens through a variety of pathways, including electricity, LPG (liquefied petroleum gas, or cooking gas), and transport fuels," Lee said.

"The costs of these programmes do weigh upon a government, even one with substantial financial resources. Transport fuels are held perhaps 45 per cent below market costs and are part of the overall energy subsidies," he added.

Transport fuel in the sultanate, said to be lowest in the region, ranges from 30 cents to 60 cents per litre at the pump.

Data from the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH show that Brunei pays for almost half of the cost of the fuel that motorists buy at the pump.

On its website, the organisation noted that the commercial cost of gasoline with a 92 octane rating is at 92 cents per litre, but only retails for 51.9 cents per litre, with the sultanate covering the remaining 40.1 cents.

"The subsidy for diesel is even higher," it said, as it noted that the commercial cost for the fuel is at 91 cents per litre while it only sells at 31 cents, with the government shouldering the remaining 60 cents.

The GIZ draws up a database on fuel prices, taxes, price policies for countries in the world on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economy Cooperation and Development.

"Reallocating fiscal resources to infrastructure, health and education would spur growth and make it more inclusive," Lee said.

Earlier, the Ministry of Health proposed before parliament a $366.479 million budget for this year, to cover for payroll, additional manpower, purchase of medicines, hospital upgrades, procurement of laboratory equipment and health promotion, among others.

Social services, for its part, was given a $351.6 million outlay from the development budget to support projects in education, health, national housing and human resources, it was earlier reported.

The Ministry of Development has earmarked $313.2 million for the 2013/2014 financial year, for flood control projects, improvements in road safety, and public housing services.

The Ministry of Education, on its part, gets a bigger budget allocation than the amount the government spent to subsidise fuel in 2011. The ministry presented a $759.128 million budget for 2013/2014, up 3.8 per cent $731.066 million the previous fiscal year at the ninth Legislative Council proceedings.

The allocation was made for teachers' salaries, overhead costs, school buses, purchase of educational equipment, and training for teaching staff.

The budgets for these ministries, however, do not take into account support that may come from the 10th National Development Project, which was given $1.05 billion for this fiscal year.

Lee noted that while popular, selling fuel below true market prices "increases energy consumption, distorts energy development planning, and damages the environment".

Reducing the real price for diesel or electricity, he said, weakens incentives to conserve on energy and inhibits the development of renewable resources, which Brunei has been pushing for.

"Worse, the main beneficiaries of energy subsidies are not the poor. If the intent is to make energy affordable to the poor, only the poorest 20 percentile should benefit from the subsidy," he said, adding that in Asia, only five to 15 per cent of the subsidy benefits go to the poorest of the poor.

Lee also said that Brunei's ability to produce oil does not make it less vulnerable to the impacts of fuel subsidies, noting that the country's affluence is critically dependent on the energy sector.

"The oil and gas sectors account for nearly two-thirds of Brunei's GDP (gross domestic product), roughly 95 per cent of Brunei's export revenues and about 90 per cent of government revenues," he noted.

"This dependence on a single natural resource makes the economy vulnerable to fluctuations arising from energy markets. In common with other small oil and gas exporting countries, the economy is subject to pressures from swings in global prices and domestic production issues," he added.

In the recently released ADB Development Outlook 2013, the bank ranked Brunei the third biggest provider of fossil fuel subsidies in Asia when considered as a share of a country's economy.

In the list of 11 Asian countries, Brunei, which provides subsidies of over three per cent of its GDP, or the total value of goods and services produced by a country within a period, trailed Bangladesh, at five per cent of its GDP, and Pakistan whose subsidies cover more than four per cent of its economy.

According to the report, a US$0.25 per litre increase in fuel prices causes a 4.5 per cent decline in real income of households in Asia and the Pacific.

The impact is partly direct, as households have to spend more on fuel, and partly indirect, as prices for goods and services increase with higher embedded energy costs, the report added.

Brunei produced 155,000 barrels of oil a day in January to September 2012, lower than the 166,000 barrels a day it produced in 2011.

The Brunei Times

Brunei telco rates highest in ASEAN (The Brunei Times)

Published in the April 13, 2013 edition of The Brunei Times. Click here for the original article

Brunei telco rates highest in ASEAN

Jennee Rubrico

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Saturday, April 13, 2013

THE sultanate has the most expensive tariffs for telecommunications services in the ASEAN, but this does not mean that it has the fastest Internet connection in the region, a report released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) the other day shows.

The 2013 edition of the Global Information Technology Report, which ranks 144 economies in the world for networked readiness, places Brunei at 135th for affordability of telecommunications services.

It beats the seven other member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which were included in the study: Vietnam, which at 38th of 144 economies has the lowest tariff for telecommunications services in the regional bloc; Indonesia, at 39th, Thailand at 45th; Malaysia, ranked 50th; Singapore (55th); the Philippines (82nd); and Cambodia (112th).

The WEF does not include Myanmar and Laos, the two other members of the 10-nation grouping, in the study.

In computing affordability of telecommunications services, WEF factors in mobile cellular tariffs, fixed broadband Internet rates and a competition factor derived from the Internet and telephony sectors competition index.

Brunei fares the worst in ASEAN for mobile cellular and fixed broadband Internet tariffs, with charges averaging US$0.45 a minute for mobile cellular calls and US$81.20 per month for wired broadband Internet service.

In contrast, Thailand, which has the cheapest cellular phone rates among the countries in the region, charges only US$0.09 per minute for calls. Vietnam, for its part, charges US$28.01 per month for fixed Internet services, the lowest among the members of the regional bloc.

For the Internet and telephony sectors competition index which measures the level of competition for Internet services, international long distance calls and mobile telephone services on a scale of 0 to 2 (2 being the highest) Brunei is again at the bottom, with a score of 0.78.

The country has three telco providers: Telekom Brunei Berhad, DST and B-Mobile.

Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore are the regional leaders in the index with the score of 2. All the other countries in the region that are covered by the study score at least 1.79 in the index.

The WEF study also shows that the high Internet tariff of Brunei does not translate to faster connection the country has an international Internet bandwidth per user of 22 kb/s, a far cry from Singapore's 343.7 kb/s.

Brunei's bandwidth, however, is not the lowest in the region. The country of 400,000 people is only slightly behind Thailand's bandwidth of 24.6 kb/s, and is better than Cambodia's 13.5 kb/s, the Philippines' 12.4 kb/s, Malaysia's 10.7 kb/s, Vietnam's 10 kb/s, and Indonesia's 7.2 kb/s.

The WEF study also shows that Bruneians are Internet savvy, ranking second only to Singapore in the region when it comes to the use of virtual social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for professional and personal communications.

And while there are more mobile phone subscriptions than there are people in the sultanate, with an average subscription of 109.2 per for every 100 people, the WEF report shows that the country's telecommunications market has room to grow.

The report shows that only 56 per cent of Bruneians are Internet users, lower than Singapore's 71 per cent and Malaysia's 61 per cent. For every 100 people in the sultanate, only 6.3 have mobile broadband Internet subscriptions, compared to regional leader Singapore's 114.1, Indonesia's 22.2, Vietnam's 18, and Malaysia's 12.3.

And although it ranks third in the region for the category, Brunei only has 5.7 subscriptions for fixed broadband Internet for every 100. Singapore has 25.6 and Malaysia, 7.4.

The country fares better when it comes to households with Internet access and those with personal computers.

According to the WEF, 65 per cent of Bruneian households have Internet access while 79.6 per cent have personal computers. In the region, it trails only Singapore, with 84.8 per cent and 86.1 per cent respectively.

Software piracy in the country, at 67 per cent of the total software units installed, is the third lowest in the region, after Singapore's 33 per cent and Malaysia's 55 per cent.

The study does not indicate Brunei's mobile network coverage rate, or the percentage of total population covered by a mobile network signal. It is the only country in the region with unknown network coverage levels.

On the regulatory indicators, Brunei scored a 4.1 on a range of 0 to 7 in the assessment of its ICT laws, trailing Singapore (5.8), Malaysia (5.2) and Indonesia (4.2) in the region. It ranks third in the region for intellectual property protection, after Singapore and Malaysia.

Competition in the country is within the global average, with Brunei scoring 4.8 on a range of a low of 1 to a high 7. Competition in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand is seen as more intense.

Brunei also lags other countries in the region in the number of procedures and the time required to start a business, at 15 steps and 101 days respectively. Malaysia, and Singapore, which lead in the first indicator, only require three steps, while it only takes three days to start a business in Singapore.

The Philippines, meanwhile, requires more steps than Brunei to start a business (16), but processes the requirements faster, at 36 days.

Brunei is above the global average of 4.3, in a range of 1 to 7, for the social impact of ICT on access to basic services. It scores 5.1 amd is behind Singapore and Malaysia. It is also on the upper side of the range for Internet access in schools, scoring 5.3 in a range of 1 to 7, putting it in second place in the region, after Singapore.

For overall networked readiness, Brunei is ranked 57th of 144 economies, three notches down from 54th place last year.

The Brunei Times

Challenges seen in TPP pact (The Brunei Times)

This was published in the April 21, 2012 issue of The Brunei Times. Click here for the original story

Challenges seen in TPP pact

Jennee Grace U Rubrico
and Debbie Too
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Saturday, April 21, 2012

NEGOTIATIONS under the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement are rife with challenges and prospects of meeting its objectives are dim, a working paper from the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies states.
The paper, written by Deborah Elms, head of the Temasek Foundation Centre for Trade and Negotiations (TFCTN), highlights difficulties faced by the TPP in meeting its objective of "open market with no exceptions".
The paper, titled 'Getting from Here to There: Stitching Together Goods Agreements in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement', was released for comments on April 17.
Originally composed of Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore, the TPP also includes the US, Australia, Peru, Vietnam, and Malaysia. Canada, Japan and Mexico have also indicated their willingness to join the economic grouping.
"The agreement is not finished, so there is still the possibility of a breakthrough in the talks. However, after two years of negotiations in goods, the prospect for an agreement that matches the rhetoric of no exceptions does not look bright," Elms says in the paper.
She points out that the countries under the TPP already have existing multilateral and bilateral agreements, wherein issues on goods trade have already been discussed.
"These deals are the result of carefully crafted compromises at the time of negotiation in each agreement. Any decision on how to negotiate in the TPP would run the risk of upsetting the existing PTA preferences," she notes.
She also highlights challenges in drafting tariff schedules for goods that would be included in the agreement by member countries.
She says TPP members have three options: to have a single schedule that would apply to all countries; to have each country prepare its own market access schedule following negotiations with others; or to combine the two options and have a uniform schedule for tariff reductions for non-sensitive products and separate schedules for sensitive ones.
But she also says: "There are nearly 6,000 tariff lines corresponding to trade in goods. For the nine countries in TPP (except for Singapore which has tariffs at zero on all products except for six lines) the starting point varies tremendously."
She also points out difficulties in opening the markets in new non-agricultural areas. Apparel, for instance, is a sensitive issue between the US and Vietnam, with Hanoi currently facing "a bewildering array of tariffs and exports" to Washington for textile, apparel and footwear exporters.
"Tariff levels of rubber footwear were as high as 37.5 per cent in May 2011," she notes.
"Vietnamese officials would like to see these complicated tariffs reduced. Up until now, most of these textile, apparel and footwear tariffs have not been addressed in American PTA negotiations."
As for market access for agricultural products, Elms notes that negotiations on "extremely sensitive items" under other trade agreements have resulted in the exclusion of certain highly sensitive items as well as the reduction, but not the elimination, of their tariffs.
She also states that other restrictive methods employed by countries were to allow high tariff peaks to remain, or subject these products to extremely long phase-in periods. In addition, countries can use a range of quantitative restrictions that are not generally allowed in other products.
"A high-quality, 21st century TPP with no exceptions should, as far as possible, avoid all these elements," she says.
The paper also raises issues on goods' rules of origin which must distinguish whether they are from TPP member countries.
"The rules must also be capable of distinguishing goods that are not from members to ensure that these non-originating goods are not eligible for the benefits of the agreement.
If these rules of origin were not put into place, any firm from any country could take advantage of any PTA," she states.
The Brunei Times

Samudera in vibrant colours (The Brunei Times)

This came out on the January 16, 2012 of The Brunei Times (Click here for original story)

Jennee Grace Rubrico
KUALA LUMPUR

Monday, January 16, 2012

WHEN Dr Abdul Jalil Othman, associate professor at the University of Malaya, held his first solo exhibit as a visual artist last year, he chose to present a collection of 63 underwater paintings.The paintings, all done in abstract drawing on canvass and first showcased at the Muzium Seni Asia, depict life under the sea.
Called "Alam Samudera", the exhibit showcased paintings that he worked on over two years.
"I wanted everybody to understand nature because I love nature. I wanted to expose people and to show them that there's another life in another world, and people should think about that life I love to show the music of the colours," he said.
"I love the colour of the sea and the movement of the water, not to mention the fish. If you look at their movement, it symbolises harmony in another world they all move in the same direction," he added.
As an abstract painter, Jahlil uses his imagination when painting, and he said that he doesn't allow himself to be limited by things as they are seen. The sea, for instance, is represented by different colours in his paintings.
How he chose the colours of the sea for this collection, he said, depended on his mood when he was working on a particular piece.
"It doesn't mean that the sea must be blue. Sometimes it can turn into yellow, into red. This is just an abstract. It's not the real thing, but it depends on my mood also," he said.
It was during his first exhibit that Jahlil's paintings were priced by Malaysia's National Art Gallery at between RM2,000 (around $825) and RM18,000. "This was the price fixed by the art panel," he said.
He added that following that exhibit, he brought his Alam Samudera collection to the National Taiwan Sport University.
"The president of the university, Professor Kao, invited me to an exhibit, and I just came back two weeks ago," he said, adding that he has been getting a lot of support from UM.
Jahlil said that he is not able to sell his paintings outside of Malaysia.
"I can't sell during exhibitions overseas, because there are stringent customs requirements," he said.
Interested buyers, he added, can buy his art through Malaysia's National Art Gallery.
Having been painting since his school days, Jahlil decided to seriously pursue the art five years ago, while on a sabbatical in Japan.
"While I was in Tokyo, I showed them some of my paintings, and I saw so many people appreciate my paintings. It inspired me to be serious with my painting," he said.
He then started participating in group exhibits in other countries. "I travelled a lot to participate in them."
Jahlil says that he finds time to paint when he gets home from his day job at the university, where he is attached to the Faculty of Educations Department of Language and Literacy Education. While at home, he works for several hours, sometimes through the night.
"It's a form of escapism and to relieve my tension, and allows me to fulfill my interest and passion for drawing," he explained.
It takes him anywhere between a week to a month to do a painting, he said.
Asked if he felt an attachment to his paintings, Jahlil said that he didn't face any difficult selling them. "Sometimes, I even give it for free. (Selling the paintings) inspires me to produce more of them," he said.
Right now, Jahlil is gearing up for another exhibit, again to be housed at Muzium Seni Asia. This will be in April and it will be a different theme. This time, it's fireworks, he said.
The Brunei Times

Real-life Farmville (The Brunei Times)

This came out on the November 19, 2011 issue of The Brunei Times. (click here for the original story)

Real-life Farmville

Jennee Grace U Rubrico
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Saturday, November 19, 2011

WHO hasn't played or heard about Farmville, that addictive simulation game on Facebook where players are given tracts of land to farm on?
Many have spent hours planting and harvesting, and earning coins which are ploughed back into the farm, so that yet more coins are earned. The more money one earns, the more choices one can have for crops to plant and buildings to build.
Perhaps, you are one of those committed players who would time your planting and harvesting, so that if you have plans to leave for the day for school, for instance you don't have to worry about your produce spoiling before you could get back home for harvest time.
Many find it fun to call on neighbours for help out on some project, share goods and take care of livestock that almost guarantees money that could be used to buy cool additions to the farm. It's challenging to be responsible for the yields from a tract of land. And the rewards that come with seeing one's farm progress into a wealthy one, as well as the idea of earning coins to buy pretty things for the farm, makes it such a draw.
If you're one of those who would like to experience Farmville in real life, plant real crops or grow livestock with the help of friends, spend time growing them and when the time comes, earn money from all the hard work, then backyard farming is for you.
Many people who live in urban areas engage in backyard farming. There is even a variation: planting on the rooftops.
There are many reasons people go into backyard farming. Some do it to get a steady stream of food. A vegetable bed or a poultry farm would allow a family to get their food fresh from their backyard instead of from the market, where a favourite vegetable could go out of stock.
Others do it because they want to make sure that the food they eat is safe from cancer-causing substances that are present in artificial fertilisers. This is called organic farming.
Still others do it for its earning potential. Just like in Farmville, a backyard farmer can sell the produce at the market or to friends and earn from it.
"Home farming has come about as a result of the convergence of several different ideas related to economics, health and environment," the website Home Farming Basics (http://homefarmingbasics.com/starting-a-backyard-farm) states.
Anyone who wants to have a backyard farm has to do one basic thing: plan it.
"The best place to start anything is with some good solid planning. Determine what it is that you hope to accomplish and decide whether you have the resources to accomplish it, make adjustments, then set a plan in motion," the website states.
The website, which offers helpful tips for would-be backyard farmers, gives different options on what to grow and information on what one needs to grow them.
For vegetable gardens, "it is possible to raise a substantial quantity of root crop vegetables, and top crop vegetables on a very small area of land, or even in containers".
"The smaller the area, and the more consistent the need for production, the more labor intensive it becomes. You may need to replant the minute that one crop becomes inviolable, and have the new crops already growing and ready to transplant. It takes some serious planning and preparation, but it works."
One can also grow fruits at home, it adds.
"Fruiting vegetables are the easiest way to produce fruits for the home farmer with small acreage. Melons, cantaloupes, and strawberries can be grown in small areas, and can even go vertical," it says.
"With a little ingenuity and careful use of space, a reasonable quantity of food can be produced from small fruit trees, and fruiting vines like grapes. It is even possible to grow some small fruit trees in large containers."
Meanwhile, those who want to breed animals will "need to have a serious amount of space" for goats and cows. Chickens, though, are more manageable, the website says.
"Both chickens for egg production and fryers can be raised in a relatively small space with careful management techniques, but a wider area for 'free range' is preferred. Depending on your tastes and preferences, other small animals such as rabbits can also be raised for food production."
Backyard farming takes more work than a Farmville farm. Crops will take longer to grow, and it entails spending real money to improve on it.
Depending on what you grow, fertilisers, feeds, pens, tools and garden beds all require varying amounts of money.
You will also have to think of the elements, and you have to properly position your crops so that they get just the right amount of sun that they need to thrive.
But at its very core, backyard farming is just like Farmville. It requires dedication, hard work and commitment. It takes time away from other activities, requires planning and takes a lot of patience.
Whether you grow crops, or flowers, or livestock, backyard farming is bound to be challenging, fun and most of all, rewarding.
The Brunei Times

Google: Big brother is watching you (The Brunei Times)

Published in the July 27, 2011 issue of The Brunei Times

Jennee Grace U Rubrico
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

SO YOU now have a Google+ account. Congratulations on being one of 18 million subscribers as of July 24 who got an invitation to the most exclusive social network party in ages.

Google which has had its share of flops since the launch of Gmail in 2004 is back on its game with its by-invitation-only strategy for Google+. Unlike the other social network, where anyone with an email address and Internet connection can sign up, Google+ is - for now, at least-restricted to the elite millions who have the power to decide if a hapless non-user should be given a pass to the party. Sigil of privacy
Never mind if, based on July 22 statistics from analysts, website Findpeopleonplus.com, most of the subscribers are engineers, software developers, web developers, programmers or other people who work with computers and the Internet. And never mind if Google itself tops the list of companies with the most number of employees signed up to the social network, at 9,704. According to Google, the social network which was rolled out on June 28 had been growing by two million subscribers per day until recently. Sooner or later, there's bound to be a demographic in which we mere mortals could belong.
Google+'s draw - apart from its exclusivity - is the control a user has over his account. Under the beta version, a user has sole control over what posts appear on one's wall - erm, stream. Should he wish to post incriminating photos of himself on his stream for everyone to see, that is his prerogative. His sister, who may derive pleasure in embarrassing him in front of his friends, will not have the same privilege. Not on his stream, at least.
There is also Circles, which has been touted as the sigil of privacy in a realm where it is thought to be non-existent. By assigning people to circles, users control who can see a particular post which is great, because people who may not be interested in knowing what book you've read recently would not have to know that you've just finished Bridge on the River Kwai.
But the real power of Circles is that it filters posts that come from others. This is important for a social network that doesn't require someone's consent to be included in someone else's network. If your ex has decided to put you in one of his circles in a malicious attempt to get you to read updates on his love life, his efforts will be in vain as long as you don't put him in any of your circles. He gets your public updates, and you get a notification that an update from him is waiting in your "incoming" stream. But you can always decide to ignore the notice. If this doesn't work for you, you can always block him, and neither of you would be getting the other's posts.
But while Google+ protects you from others, it does not protect you from Google itself. Like it or not, the social network is yet another platform from which the Internet giant could cull information about its users.
The thing about Google is that its services are integrated, and a user's information is shared by most of the platforms. Using Google's services is like giving the Internet giant permission to take your fingerprints and trace your activities. With all the data we have been feeding Google through Gmail, Blogger, YouTube, Chrome, Reader, Google Docs, Calendar, Buzz, and now Google+, it is not farfetched for a conspiracy theorist to think of it as the real world's equivalent of Eagle Eye's ARIIA, the omniscient, omnipotent super-computer tasked with gathering intelligence from all over the world.
Information on everyone
For all we know, Google has already gathered enough information on everyone to rule the world. But maybe not.
How does Google use data from users? "We may combine the information you submit under your account with information from other Google services or third parties in order to provide you with a better experience and to improve the quality of our services," it says in its terms of service.
For Google+, "we will record information about your activity such as posts you comment on and the other users with whom you interact in order to provide you and other users with a better experience on Google services".
It adds that information provided by others - such as people who put you in circles, or tag you in photos-are also collected to be used as aggregate statistics about Google+ activity and shared "with the public, our users, and partners, such as publishers, app developers, or connected sites".
Governments are aware that Google is sitting on a treasure trove of information and have been asking its help. Google complies.
"We receive requests from government agencies around the world to provide information about users of our services and products," it says, adding these "primarily cover requests in criminal matters".
Criminal investigation
"We can't always be sure that a request necessarily relates to a criminal investigation, however, so there are likely a small number of requests that fall outside of this category," it adds.
There have always been provisions in Google's terms of service that have caused discomfort among users; but resisting the Internet giant would be futile. Short of committing cyber hara-kiri, there is no way to avoid the omniscient Big Brother.
In any case, Google users seem to have already factored this in. Gmail users, especially, have had an earlier encounter with privacy issues - and have kept using the service since.
I console myself with the thought that having a virtual fingerprint is just like having a real one. Unless a need arises for that fingerprint to be located, it remains in the dark recesses of the storage rooms. So I convince myself: There is no need to be afraid.
Besides, with 18 million Google+ users and more Gmail subscribers, there are surely people with more colourful lives than mine who would occupy the time of Google, and that of the powers-that-be.
And if it comes down to it, cyber hara-kiri is always an option, and I can rest assured that Google+ won't retain my data. But it always bodes well to remember, before putting up a Google+ post: your parents may not see it, but Big Brother is watching.
The views are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Brunei Times. The Brunei Times

Bimp-Eaga can tap $1.5t global halal food market (The Brunei Times)

Published in the July 17, 2011 issue of The Brunei Times

Jennee Grace U Rubrico

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

THE Bimp-Eaga sub-regional grouping is poised to take a bite out of the trillion-dollar global halal food market, a ranking official of one of its member-countries said.
In a talk with reporters yesterday, Philippine Finance Secretary Cesar V Purisima said that the halal food market presents an opportunity for the sub-region, which counts as its members Brunei Darussalam as well as provinces and states in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
The Halal Journal estimates that halal food currently accounts for approximately one-fifth of world food trade, and values the industry segment at US$1.2 trillion ($1.5 trillion) as of 2010. The trade publication which focuses on the halal market also states that the industry segment grows by US$500 million annually.
"Individually, we already supply halal food to the market, but not as Bimp-Eaga. Tapping the market as Bimp-Eaga with a Bimp-Eaga halal certification with a Bimp-Eaga brand is something we should start looking at because these are the key blocks to make sure that the Asean integration happens," said Purisima, who was in the Sultanate to attend the 65th birthday celebrations of His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.
He said that during Haj, Saudi Arabia alone needs to feed millions of pilgrims for a month. In 2010, 2.8 million pilgrims were estimated to have taken part in the Haj.
"Just for the needs of this Haj, we can target that as a major opportunity. We can collaborate. It can be the land of the Philippines, it can be the money and technology of Brunei, it can be cooperation with the Malaysian and Indonesian companies, and maybe also some of the areas in Malaysia and Indonesia," he said.
"If we reach out to the market, in Saudi Arabia, and partner with them as support for the region and give us some preferential access to the market so long as were competitive, that would be good."
He also said that members of the sub-regional grouping can even "specialise" in the types of food to produce, with areas designated as Bimp-Eaga centres for chicken, corn, fish, prawns, beef and other food products.
"When you look at it, we should even reach out to New Zealand and Australia. They have so much of the lamb and cattle. We can bring them here, process them here because it's cheaper, and certify it," he said.
For this to happen, the growth area needs to build the infrastructure that would facilitate trade, Purisima said.
"The key there is making sure that we build the infrastructure: the ports, the seaports, the cold chain, the processing facilities," he said.
Meanwhile, Purisima also said that on a country-to-country basis, the Philippines could tap Brunei's know-how on halal certification.
"The Brunei halal food brand is recognised worldwide and we'd like to work with the Brunei halal food authority to make sure that we improve our halal certifying bodies in the Philippines and maybe have a joint project," he said.
The Bimp-Eaga comprises Brunei; Kalimantan and Sulawesi in Indonesia; the federal states of Sabah and Sarawak, and the federal territory of Labuan in Eastern Malaysia; and the islands of Mindanao and Palawan in the Philippines.
The Brunei Times

Asean seeks to boost fund for infrastructure projects

Published in the July 17, 2011 issue of The Brunei Times

Jennee Grace U Rubrico

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

THE Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is hoping to beef up a fund that is being set up for infrastructure projects in the region.

Philippine Finance Secretary Cesar V Purisima told reporters yesterday that the 10-member grouping hopes to entice central banks in the region to invest in the Asean Infrastructure Fund (AIF). The AIF will be a combination of equity contributions from Asean member-states and bond issuances.
Asean member-states have pledged to contribute US$335.2 million ($408.41 million) to the fund.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will give a counterpart of US$150 million as well as hybrid capital, amounting to US$162 million, in the form of debt and equity.
"We believe that the AIF is a very good initiative. Our goal is that it becomes so successful that the credit rating becomes very high hopefully in the A's so that the central banks of the region can invest in it so that it can become bigger," Purisima said.
He said that at around US$400 million, current pledges for the fund are "a good start".
"But given the infrastructure needs of the Asean, we really need all the capital to be funneled to that," he added.
The ADB has estimated that the region requires infrastructure investments amounting to US$596 billion from 2006 to 2015, with an average investment of US$60 billion per year.
Purisima said that the central banks in the region have the means to invest in the fund.
"We do have the reserves. Across the region we have substantial foreign exchange reserves. Our challenge is to create the mechanisms for recycling these investments, and AIF can be one of that," he said.
According to the International Monetary Fund, Malaysia had foreign currency reserves of US$120.58 billion while Singapore had foreign currency reserves of US$238.5 billion in May 2011.
The Philippines, meanwhile, had foreign currency reserves of US$59 billion, while Thailand had US$177 billion in the same period.
Asean aims to establish the AIF during the informal Asean Finance Ministers' Meeting in September.
The fund was conceived to provide funding for the huge infrastructure requirements of the Asean. Indicative projects include those in the energy, transport and water sectors.
Based on discussions among the Asean member-states, the AIF will be a corporate entity, with a board that will take the key decisions of selection of projects as well as their implementation.
The AIF will be headquartered in Malaysia and will be administered by ADB on behalf of Asean member-countries.
Malaysia has pledged US$150 million for the fund, while Indonesia said it was giving US$120 million. Laos and Cambodia have pledged US$100,000 each, while Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore pledged to contribute US$15 million.
Asean Secretary-General Dr Surin Pitsuwan, however, had earlier said that the fund was not going to be enough to support the implementation of the Asean Master Plan on Connectivity, pointing out that Asia needs to invest about US$8 trillion in overall national infrastructure between 2010 and 2020.
"In addition, Asia needs to spend about US$290 billion on specific regional infrastructure projects in transport and energy that are in the pipeline," he said. The Brunei Times

Confessions of an FB-shunning geek (The Brunei Times)

Published in the June 22, 2011 issue of The Brunei Times

Jennee Grace U Rubrico

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

MY COUNTRY has once been called the social networking capital of the world.

A study released last March and quoted by Yahoo! News reveals that 95 per cent of the people in the Philippines who have access to the Internet are on social networking sites.Mark Zuckerberg, should he choose to do so, can undoubtedly rule the land. The same survey shows that of those who have Internet access, 93.9 per cent have a Facebook account, making the Philippines the market with the highest penetration for the Harvard dropout's online Frankenstein.
This means that as of March, more than nine out of 10 people with Internet access in the Philippines had a Facebook account. It also means that had I been living there, I would have been one of the six people in every 100 who didn't have one.
I had known that there were only a handful of us who have fought the pressure to open a Facebook account. Every member of my family has one, and so does every single one of my friends and colleagues. Over the years, I've gotten hundreds of invitations to join Facebook from friends, family, co-workers, and long-forgotten people I might have met at one time or another.
I just didn't think there were this few of us in the resistance movement. My refusal to join the social networking site is not due to being an anti-social netizen. I created my little nook in cyberspace before it became as pervasive as it is now. I had an email address at Rocketmail before Yahoo! bought it over to kill it and a decade before Gmail was rolled. I was a chatter when usernames were called handles, when BBS (bulletin board systems) still existed, Telnet chat was the rage, and mIRC was just starting. I had an instant messaging account with ICQ on the year it was rolled out, and my handle was an eight-digit number.
I was talking to friends and relatives who were oceans away through the Internet before Skype had come into existence.
I think that my online persona has better social skills than the real me.
At various times, I've owned an account on Friendster, Multiply, Blogger, Livejournal and Shelfari. When Twitter and Tumblr came along, I've opened accounts in those too. I am aware that Facebook has been used as a catalyst for change. And I have, on a number of occasions, wished that I had an account so I could check on family, particularly when calamities strike and telephone lines are down.
But five years after the social network was opened to the world, I have managed to remain a Facebook virgin. I have come to regard this as a lifestyle choice.
Privacy issues make opting out the easy choice. My chief deterrent was Facebook's refusal to expunge personal data of people who create an account and later decide to deactivate it.
Why the company wants to keep the data of ex-users is open to speculation. Facebook has said that while deactivating the account does not erase the users' profile information in the social network's servers, deleting it would erase all information. But to remove all information, users must manually delete content such as wall posts, friends, and groups.
More issues were raised as the social network gained popularity, and they served as my justification for staying out of it. Photo tagging, in particular, is a constant bleep on my radar of paranoia, as it opens users to the inconvenience of being easily identifiable to both strangers and the bad elements.
It's not always easy to resist the advances of Facebook. That everyone is on it is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the bandwagon's call can be quite persistent. On the other, the hype can be a turnoff.
The tide appears to be turning against the social network, though. In a June 13 report, the AFP stated that Facebook's growth is slowing and that the social network has lost users in the US and Canada.
In the US, six million users deactivated their accounts in May, falling from 155.2 million at the start of May to 149.4 million at the end of it. In Canada, meanwhile, users fell 1.52 million to 16.6 million during the month.
Even in the so-called social networking capital of the world, Facebook appears to be losing its shine. A June 6 report by the Philippine Star puts Facebook penetration in the Philippines at 82.49 per cent in May - lower than the 93.9 per cent reported in March. Whether this means that Facebook lost users or that Internet penetration in the country has gone up faster than Facebook subscription has, it doesn't bode well for the social networking site, which depends on eyeballs to generate earnings.
I'm neither happy nor sad that Facebook is losing users - people dearest to me would clobber me if they thought that I was gloating that the connectivity that the social network offers is being threatened. But maybe, the mammoth that it has become could use a little shakeup. And maybe, this loss of users would make Facebook rethink the liberties it has been taking with users' privacy.
The views are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Brunei Times.
The Brunei Times

Quo vadis, landline? (The Brunei Times)

Published in the March 29, 2011 issue of The Brunei Times

Jennee Grace U Rubrico
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

 Tuesday, March 29, 2011

WITH telecommunications rapidly evolving thanks to technology, I could not help but wonder about one thing. That is, what will the world do with all the landlines that are fast approaching obsolescence? Laugh if you must, but everyone must realise by now that the only future fixed lines have in this new world order, where the Internet has taken over lives and smartphones that can do everything but the laundry are the communication tools of choice, is the museum or the junkyard.
I have a soft spot for landlines. I am part of that generation that believed having an extension line installed in one's room was a privilege that one aspired to. I am part of that generation that stayed up late to burn the lines talking with friends about high school crushes, homework and everything in between. In those days, not being able to use the stationary telephone was a form of grounding.
Fixed lines became essential when I started working. As a reporter, there had been times when I would work two phones simultaneously to complete an article. I also had a pager (for those who are too young to know what that was, let's say it was a more cumbersome version of text messaging, because one needed a fixed line to send a message. Alas, the life of the pager was curtailed far too early, as is the fate of gadgets that are found to be of little use).
I remember when there were only two types of telephones: the private lines, which were installed in homes and establishments, and the payphones, which were located in phone booths that were sprinkled around public places.
While payphones are now on the verge of extinction, the landline is unlikely to disappear by tomorrow. Not yet. It has so far managed to find a niche. It is still a staple in the newsroom; it is still the weapon of choice of pollsters; and my family still has one at home (we use it to call for delivery). In some countries, the landline is still the only way to call emergency numbers. But its increasing impracticability is obvious, not only to those who still use them — and to those who don't — but also to those that offer the service.
Last month, Nielsenwire released findings of a study it conducted in Indonesia which revealed that mobile phone penetration in the world's fourth most populated country tripled in just five years to 54 per cent of the population, while the number of landlines dropped to 11 per cent from 25 per cent in 2005.
"Consumers in Indonesia have mostly headed straight to mobile phones as their communication tool," said Viraj Juthani, director for the Telecom Practice Group, The Nielsen Company, Indonesia.
Financial statements of telecommunications companies in the region attest to the dwindling interest in landlines — a complete reversal of the trend seen just 20 years ago, when in the Philippines, particularly, people had to wait between six months and several years just to have one installed.
In its latest financial report, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, the Philippines' largest telecommunications carrier, revealed that its landline business saw revenues declining by four per cent in the nine months ending September 30, 2010 to 37.043 billion pesos from 38.388 billion pesos in the same period the prior year.
The carrier said this was "due to decrease in revenues from our national long distance, international long distance and local exchange services", adding that the sluggish performance was already "partially offset by the increase in revenues from our data and other network services".
That the carriers are adapting to changing times by establishing their own mobile phone service providers and bundling up landline subscriptions with other services such as cable television and broadband Internet shows that they are not holding out hope that fixed lines will in the future reclaim their glorious past.
An article which came out in The Economist two years ago quoted telecom operators in the US as saying that customers had been abandoning landlines at a rate of 700,000 per month in favour of mobile phones. It also quoted figures from America's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, which had noted that in 2009, 20.2 per cent of the country's households became mobile-only homes, compared to only 7.3 per cent in 2005.
"If the decline of the landline continues at its current rate, the last cord will be cut sometime in 2025," the article stated.
I concede, grudgingly, that sometime soon, the landline will have no place in this cyberspace-dominated world. But I hope that however way it disappears, it would still somehow make its presence felt.
I would like to tell my children about those days when chatting involved not computers but phones with rotating dials and corded receivers. And when they look at me with disbelieving eyes and gaping mouths, I would like to be able to take them to a place where I could show them the instrument that had been an integral part of my childhood and professional life.
The views of the writer are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Brunei Times.
The Brunei Times

Booming budget airlines in SE Asia (The Brunei Times)

Published in the February 15, 2011 issue of The Brunei Times

Jennee Grace U Rubrico
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

 Tuesday, February 15, 2011

THESE days, I've been getting notices on promotional fares from Philippine budget airline Cebu Pacific almost every week. I am subscribed to the carrier's promo service, which informs me by email of 50% discounts on air tickets, reduced fares, and even seats that sell for only one peso (a little over 3 Bruneian cents), excluding taxes. I used to get one of these advisories every two months. But since December, the frequency of the promotional fares has reached a rate that has just been boggling my mind. Every event has become an excuse to slash air fares including Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year, which is not a public holiday in the Philippines. I am almost certain that in a few days, a promotional fare notice celebrating school graduation will find its way to my inbox.
Tough competition
I suppose that a lot of the aggressive marketing has to do with increased competition. AirAsia, the region's biggest budget carrier, has announced plans to put up a Philippine subsidiary through a joint venture with Filipino businessman Antonio Cojuangco. The Malaysian airline, which is comfortably ensconced on the top spot in the ranking for budget carriers in the region, has grown, and fast. With Tony Fernandes bringing the dog fight to Cebu Pacific's turf, the Philippine flag carrier has to respond to the challenge.
On the home front, Cebu Pacific has also been facing rising competition from legacy airline and fellow flag carrier Philippine Airlines which started Air Philippines specifically to regain a share of the low-cost market and Zest Air, which has recently announced plans to field international flights.
It's easy to see the draw of the Philippines to budget carriers.
Lucrative market
With over one million Filipinos leaving the country every year to work abroad, airlines have a captive market.
Cebu Pacific alone flew 10.5 million passengers from January to December 2010, driven by a 38 per cent increase in international passengers. The carrier, which flew 2.23 million passengers to and from international destinations last year, disclosed that its Hong Kong and Singapore markets grew by 15 per cent and 45 per cent respectively. There are 140,000 Filipinos working in Hong Kong, and 150,000 in Singapore.
Add to this the Filipinos in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Brunei and really, everywhere else in the world who make it a point to visit the country at least once a year, and airlines that service the route have an even bigger market.
International tourism
And let's not forget the holiday-makers of the archipelago that 90 million people call home, or the foreign tourists, 3.52 million of whom stepped on Philippine shores last year.
I rub my palms together in glee at the cut-throat competition among airlines that results in a cheaper way to travel. While I enjoy the comforts of travelling in a legacy carrier as much as the next commuter, I find that for short trips, at least, I can dispense with movies on demand, the in-flight blanket, and yes, the much-maligned plane food if it means being able to save on air fare, which, in theory, redounds to being able to travel more frequently.
Looming fuel surcharge
I do not know how long the price-slashing exercise of airlines would last. Turbulence looms constantly over the horizon AirAsia has said that it would apply a fuel surcharge on air fares if oil hits US$100 per barrel in the world market. That level has been hit, although not sustained. If oil continues to rise, Cebu Pacific, which tacks on the surcharge to its fares, may also be hard put to keep fares at current levels.
Volatile economy
There is also the matter of the economy, which can still go either north or south, particularly with inflation once again rearing its insidious head and giving state policymakers cause for concern. For the aviation industry, economic downturns mean companies and individuals cutting back on leisure and business travels.
Moreover, a competitive environment adheres to the principle of survival of the fittest.
And as weaker airlines fall by the wayside and stronger ones are left unchallenged, air fares may rise again.
But while the rates are low, I should be booking tickets for my trips this year. So excuse me while I open my email and read through that latest promotional fare advisory again.
Destinations are a-waving.
The views of the author are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Brunei Times.
The Brunei Times

When money comes, shopping too follows (The Brunei Times)

Published in the December 30, 2010 issue of The Brunei Times

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Jennee Grace U Rubrico

Thursday, December 30, 2010

WHEN people start going back to buying luxurious little pleasure items, one can safely conclude that the worst is over for the economy. While the stock market is officially the weathervane of a mature economy, the movement of discretionary items like branded bags and electronic gadgets in the retail sector is, arguably, the better indicator of economic health.At the first sign of an economic slowdown Jimmy Choo and Tiffany are among the first names to be taken out of the shopping list, ceding their slots to more wallet-friendly brands; when purse strings are loosened, austerity fatigue somehow finds its way into the household and items that feel good but are not vital for survival are reinstated in the budget.
Given the way people in this part of the world have been spending of late, the region doesn't seem to be worried about the eurozone debt crisis at all.
In its 2011 outlook for the Retail and Consumer Products in Asia, PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts the region will outperform all other markets in terms of retail sales over the next four years.
Figures from the Economist Intelligence Unit quoted by PwC estimate Asia-Pacific's retail sales volume to grow 6.5 per cent in 2010, from 5.6 per cent in 2009. Between 2011 and 2014, growth will be between 6 per cent and 6.6 per cent. In contrast, other markets in the world are expected to grow -0.5 per cent to 5.2 per cent in 2010; 0.2 per cent to 4.5 per cent in 2011; 0.8 per cent to 5.2 per cent in 2012; 1.1 per cent to 5.8 per cent in 2013; and 1 per cent to 6.6 per cent in 2014. Western Europe is expected to consistently lag all the other regions.
"Asian markets proved remarkably resilient through the economic downturn and continued healthy growth over the next five years looks almost certain," says PwC.
It adds that while China and India will continue to drive growth in the region, "across most of Asia, the forecast is for steady growth in the mid-single digits". Shoppers and mall operators in Brunei, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, and other cities in the region which saw shopping centres bursting at the seams during the Christmas season would be hard-put to argue.
Food and fast moving consumer goods always do well regardless of the economic condition, since they are necessary expenses.
But to get a better sense of the economic vitality of the region and the public's propensity to trade up in good times, it is necessary to turn to retail subsectors that are dependent on spare money: luxury goods, durables and electronics.
The segments have been growing in leaps and bounds. Spending on luxury goods is "back in a big way" this year, says PwC. Watch maker Swatch, which also owns the Blancpain and Breguet brands, saw a 22 per cent increase in first half sales, PwC notes.
Sales in Hermes International also saw a 27 per cent jump in the second quarter and a whopping 57 per cent increase sales in Asia, excluding Japan.
"LVMH, the world's biggest luxury goods group, said its profits soared by 53 per cent in the first half of 2010", while Richemont, which owns the Cartier and Montblanc brands "saw its sales in Asia rise 51 per cent year-on-year from March to August", PwC states.
Durables and electronics are also seeing a jump in sales volume in the region - to 5.5 per cent in 2010, from 2.7 per cent in 2009. The segment is also expected to grow 5.8 per cent in 2011, 6 per cent in 2012, 6.4 per cent in 2013, and 6.6 per cent in 2014.
By all indications, Asians are poised to shop their way to economic health. But economics is hardly an exact science, and at the back of policymakers' minds is the question: Will Asia continue to be insulated from the European debt crisis?
Studies claim this is a likely scenario. Realistically, people are still drawing up shopping lists and keeping to budgets, albeit much bigger ones.
As long as the good times roll, however, shoppers will continue to kick off the flea market shoes, don the Havaianas, and hit the high-end stores to make big-ticket purchases.
Because when money comes, shopping is never too far behind.
(The views of the author are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Brunei Times).
The Brunei Times