The Japanese Occupation – Singapore

This post would be useful particularly for students using the new Secondary Two History textbook.

The Occupation between 1942 and 1945 saw new legal tender (the ‘banana money’, that had no serial number!) and rationing (with the Japanese issued ‘Peace Living Certificates’). As there was hoarding and decreased supply, a black market grew with prices hitting the roof (hyperinflation – arguably by expansion of money supply). Eventually, death rates in the final two years jumped 100% owing to disease and poor nutrition.

The Old Ford Factory, run by the National Archives of Singapore is another place you can find out about the period.

[Kelly Jackson-Nash. (2016). Culture Shock: Singapore. Marshall Cavendish. Singapore. p.24-25.]

Politically, there was a constant climate of fear with the Kempeitai (Japanese military police) in the shadows. The purges of the Sook Ching operation (against mainly the Chinese), was described by Nicholas Tarling as “…not only a crime, but a blunder.’ A racial/ethnic based divide-and-rule policy was maintained though.

Interestingly, an airport ordered by the Japanese was completed between 1943 and 1945.

In the end, many local residents actually embraced the re-establishment of British control in September 1945.

[Nicholas Tarling. (2015). Colonial Singapore. Straits Times Press and Institute of Policy Studies. Singapore. p.73-75.]

Finally, InSing ran a piece in 2013 on food during the period (with a video to boot!). Click on the lick below : )

– Wartime recipes: What people ate during WWII in Singapore

[Side note: The Ipomoea aquatica or Water Spinach is our kang kong/kang kung! It is considered a weed in the United States?! – Worldcrop website.]

 

 

SREIT – Annual Report CapitaLand 2015

Let’s get started…

Overview

• CapitaLand Mall Trust (CMT) had 16 properties as at 31 Dec 2015. Only one (Tampines Mall) is in the east of Singapore. Seven are non-suburban i.e. in the centre. These include Raffles City (40% stake). [The only other property under incomplete control was Westgate (30%)]
• 1.8% of CMT group assets were put into the CapitaLand Retail China Trust (CRCT)

Short term historical prices

I took a rough gauge of the unit prices (Singapore Dollar) – the price at closing on the first day of each month from 2 Jan 2015 up till 1 Nov 2016 (23 months).

• Highest – $2.19 (only 1 episode)
• Lowest – $1.895 (only 1 episode)

Volume traded

• Highest approximation – 28 million
• Lowest approximation – 1.9 million

Debt

Total leverage was 35.4%, a decline from Financial Year (FY) 2014.

Average Term to Maturity (years) [debt, as I understand it] = 5.3 years (rose by 0.6 years from FY 2014).

It has S$192.8 million (at 3.25% interest) due in 2027 though. It came after a swap with a tranche of HK$1.104 billion 2.77% fixed rate notes. [p.84]

Other costs

Directors’ fees increased from FY 2014 to FY 2015 (seven board meetings in 2015).

Management Expense Ratio = 0.7% [‘…excluding property expenses and finance costs but including performance component of CapitaLand Mall Trust Management Limited’s management fees, expressed as a percentage of weighted average net assets.’]

Is the adage ‘An eye for an eye’ viable in redressing wrongs?

When applied to international relations, reconciliation and rehabilitation have proved a better route than reciprocal punishment. We can consult the precedent of France and Germany. The bitter war of the 1870s left France humiliated. France also paid 5 billion francs in reparations to Germany. The seething anger contributed to the punitive measures of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles after World War One. Among other things, German reparations constituted 85% of its total national income. This was a victory without peace. In part, this led to World War Two which exploded in 1939. In contrast, Franco-German reconciliation after 1945 resulted in peace and facilitated conditions that propelled both countries to developed nations status. From this perspective, exacting punishments would have impeded peace. Hence, to a large extent they should be forsaken.