Singapore will spend 20 billion Singapore dollars (US$14 billion; ?9.5 billion) to double its railway network

SINGAPORE - Singapore will spend 20 billion Singapore dollars (US$14 billion; S$9.5 billion) to double its railway network by 2020, the city-state's transport minister said Friday.

The new lines will also triple the network's load from 1.4 million journeys a day to 4.6 million, said Minister for Transport Raymond Lim said.
"The government has decided that all these rail projects are a necessary investment to ensure that our transport infrastructure meets the needs of a growing population and an expanding economy," Lim said.
Together with rail lines currently under construction, the new ones will double the network length from 138 kilometers (85 miles) to 278 kilometers (172 miles), he said.
A new line will be built to connect Woodlands in the north to downtown Marina Bay, where one of Singapore's two casinos is being built, while another line will be built to connect Marina Bay to the eastern parts of the island, along the coast.
The existing rail lines that run north to south and east to west will also be extended, he said.
"By 2020, people who live or work in the city and those who shop and find enjoyment there will be able to reach an MRT station within 400 meters (437 yards) on average, a mere five-minute walk," Lim said.
The Southeast Asian city-state projects its population will increase by more than 40 percent to 6.5 million over the next 40-50 years, based on current demographic trends. Leaders have urged land planners to explore new ways of creating space to accommodate the potential increase

Portfolio 2007 Review

This is the year where I was very cautious. Most of the time I had only about 50% invested.

My YTD performance is 35.55 %. Nothing fantastic, but satisfied. Most forummers I know have achieved 50-80%. Well, what to do if I extrapolate my performance with what I invested, it is around 70% ...yeah IQ jing shen.

Even though I tried to stay out of the market since Sep 07 as I knew things will get worse, I itchy hand went to buy China Milk and Darco. They have respectively fell and cut down my portfolio by 30+K.

Lesson learnt - Discipline means discipline. When you have decided the course of action, whether the market moves up, you should disregard it. Treat it as bo pian, ming bu shi ni de.

My biggest winner in terms of cash this FY is CSC, which more than doubled and contributed half of my gains . It is indeed a speculative stock, but constrution was in doldrums in the last few years, and with the government initiative to revamp Singapore with 2 Integrated Resorts, Sports Hub, Circle line and property boom in singapore, it was a strong beneficiary. It was cheap and it was a good play.
I bought mostly at 20 cents and sold most at 43 cents. A good thing is that I did have discipline and was not greedy. Make money - sell.

My next big winner is Pan United Marine. Although I bough at around 50+ cents a year ago, I have been entering and exiting it a few times. My cost this FY is around 1.6+ and was unfortunately had a mandatory take over by Dubai Drydocks. I sold it around 2.41 a cool 50% gain. It still had lots of cash, strong book orders till 2009 and generous dividends.

I had other good winners like Techcomp about 50% (32 - 50 cents) Ecowise (Doubled) and Superbowl (50%) but wasn't bought at big quantities to have much impact.

Now my failures.
i ) Longcheer, which I did not fundamentally understand its business landscape and competitors. I made the investment because of the 3G license which did not materialse. Its business model became focus more and more on low cost handphones and their profits plunge. Also, handphone makers also spin off their internal R&D departments and buy from this spin-offs. The cash cow perios was over.
ii) Memtech, also a play on 3G. It also has a high dividend rate, but I don't understand why it is still languishing.
iii) China Milk - still smarting because of high PE 13

Lessons learnt
- Be more discipline
- Research more into the companies businesss landscape before investing
- Given a choice buy companies with stronger pricing power

KL Trip

Took a 3 day holiday trip to Kuala Lumpar. Was one of the few breaks I was looking forward to.

Arrived at Sepang Airport, and our sis-in-law fetched us to her house in Bukit Jelutong at Shah Alam Selangor. It took about 40 mins. At the airport, it is closed to Putrajaya, which is the new administrative centre of Malaysia. The prime minister office and other adminstrative offices are moved there.

Bukit Jelutong is one of the high class area in Malaysia. It is a property development which is outside the busy KL and has many rows of rather luxurious houses. It is a nice place to stay.

We went to Restoran Green, the place famous for their LobsterLong Xia shen mien. Really yummy :) You can really taste the lobster taste in the noodles.

The crab was also quite good, with Hei Bi (Prawn paste) taste. But my personal preference is still Long Beach.

The 2nd day we went to Klang to take their their claypot Ba Ku Teh. The soup as usual is very delicious. The soup is boiled for a long time and you can really taste the pork taste in the soup.

We then went to a shopping centre (The Curve)The Curve at Mutiara Damansara.

The 3rd day we went to Bangsa area for lunch. Bangsa area is another very high class area in Kuala Lumpar. We then went to Midvalley a megamall where we bought some of my CNY clothes and my toddler son's clothes. It was very crowded and rather modern. It looks like Malaysia retail is doing well.