4 TOP STORIES The Business Times, Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Going back to when the Mr Lee Hsien Loong money out of politics; and East and South Asia region stressed that corruption in paying public officers pro- suffered from endemic cor- Singapore was “well under perly. PM Lee: Not possible to ruption, Mr Lee said: “We control”, largely as a result Still, he said that a clean set out in 1959 to be differ- of the CPIB’s relentless ef- system was “not a natural ent. We strengthened the forts over the last six dec- state of affairs”, noting that laws against corruption, ades. some would still try to gave CPIB officers more He noted how the break the rules even with powers of interrogation number of complaints and harsh penalties in place. stop all determined cheats and to seize documents. cases registered have de- “Ultimately, the price of “We introduced a funda- clined steadily in recent corruption is not just the mental change in the law years, while the number of dollar amount of the bribes, on burden of proof that if a cases taken to court have al- but the cost to society of the He added that it was im- Kuan Yew, Emeritus Senior some officers had failed to ing, even when it is embar- Balance must be man possesses more assets so fallen. bad decisions and malfunc- portant to strike a balance Minister Goh Chok Tong live up to the high stan- rassing or awkward for the struck between than his known income, he Cases involving the gov- tioning systems which far between instituting more and Deputy Prime Minister dards that both the civil ser- government.” more safeguards, is presumed to be corrupt ernment or public officers, exceeds the money that is safeguards – such as stric- Teo Chee Hean. vice and the people of Singa- In a separate statement and he must account for his he added, form only a exchanged,” said Mr Lee. ter procurement rules – pore expect of public ser- too many checks Mr Lee’s comments yesterday, Mr Lee Kuan assets beyond what he “small proportion” of the to- Yesterday’s event also and burdening the system vants. come amid an ongoing cor- Yew noted that the latest earns. tal cases, and are not in- saw the launch of the By LEE U-WEN with too many checks. ruption probe into a “I’m confident that these cases being investigated “We have succeeded in creasing either. CPIB’s new coffee table [SINGAPORE] Even as the Mr Lee made these number of senior civil ser- lapses are not typical of the were “new forms of corrup- keeping Singapore clean The prime minister high- book, chronicling the bu- government reviews and points at the 60th anniver- vants including the former public service. The over- tion, with sex being ex- and corruption free. This re- lighted four areas that have reau’s 60-year history of tightens its systems to en- sary celebrations of the Cor- chiefs of the Central Narco- whelming majority of offi- changed for favourable out- quires strong political will, helped boost Singapore’s fighting corruption. sure high standards of hon- rupt Practices Investigation tics Bureau and the Singa- cers are upright and trust- comes”. constant vigilance and re- reputation as a clean and in- esty are maintained, it is Mr Lee Kuan Yew pre- Bureau (CPIB) held at the Is- pore Civil Defence Force. worthy,” he said. “There is no end to hu- not possible for any system lentless efforts by CPIB to corrupt country. sented signed copies of the to be able to completely tana yesterday. While he did not ad- “The cases which have man ingenuity,” he said in follow up every complaint These were a strong po- 120-page hardcover book stop a determined cheat, Among those in the dress any specific case in come up reflect our determi- a short statement issued to and every clue of wrong do- litical leadership; enacting to three former CPIB direc- said Prime Minister Lee 170-strong audience were his 15-minute speech, he nation to clamp down on the media at the close of yes- ing.” tough laws and enforcing tors as well as current direc- Hsien Loong. former prime minister Lee said that it was “bad” that corruption and wrongdo- terday’s ceremony. Overall, however, them vigorously; keeping tor Eric Tan. Source: The Business Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction. mio TV bags rights for Uefa leagues at last minute A boon for

By JOYCE HOOI Changi Airport, [SINGAPORE] After a peri- od of negotiation limbo, SingTel’s mio TV screeched a bane for SIA past the post last night with a broadcast rights deal for the Uefa Champions necting through to Bris- League (UCL) and the Uefa Emirates launches bane, Melbourne and Co- Europa League, just hours A380 services on lombo, and the strengthen- before the first UCL match S’pore-Dubai route ing of its vertically integrat- was due to be aired early ed business model via dna- this morning, local time. By VEN SREENIVASAN ta’s airport services, “The Uefa Champions ground handling and cater- League and the Europa [SINGAPORE] In a move ing operations. League are some of the which sounds good for “Emirates is currently most popular sporting Changi Airport but could operating a two-week events around the world threaten Singapore Airlines ad-hoc Airbus A380 service and we recognise how im- (SIA), Dubai-based Emir- between Dubai and Singa- portant these matches are ates is significantly boost- pore which has received ex- to our customers,” said Goh ing capacity on its Singa- tremely positive responses Seow Eng, SingTel manag- pore-Dubai route by launch- from our passengers,” said ing director of television. ing A380 services. Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ Emirates, in an an- As late as yesterday senior vice-president, com- nouncement just days after evening, mio TV appeared mercial operations, Far it tied up an alliance with to still be haggling over the East & Australasia. “In light Qantas which will see the of this we have decided to rights, even after StarHub Australian carrier move its bring our flagship aircraft had left the table. “While intercontinental hub from to Singapore on a perma- we are always looking to Singapore to Dubai, said it nent basis. This follows our add quality sport content to will boost capacity on the progressive build-up of ser- our line-up, discussions re- Dubai-Singapore sector by vices on this route over the garding the Champions 46 per cent with the intro- last few years. Despite the League have stalled,” duction of its giant 517-seat current global economic un- StarHub said yesterday. aircraft starting Dec 1. certainty, we remain com- But even with just one Flights EK354 and mitted to the Singapore operator in contention, the EK355, which will replace market adding significant broadcast rights for the Emirates’ 354-seat Boeing seat capacity – over 2,200 Champions League had re- 777-300ER, will boost seats a week – which is set mained an uncertainty past AFP Emirates’ total capacity to foster tourism and trade the close of business yester- Just in time for the kick-off: Even with just one operator, mio TV, in contention, the broadcast rights for the Champions League had across four daily services between Singapore, Dubai day, with SingTel saying remained an uncertainty past the close of business yesterday from Dubai to Singapore to and beyond.” then that it was still “in dis- 1,659 seats daily. Mr Salem added that the cussions with the content While Emirates’ move Emirates A380 service – providers”. group matches tomorrow. availability of the broad- yesterday afternoon, with the match was due to be away from ESPN Star may be welcome news for which has 14 private First Class Suites, 76 lie-flat beds mio TV’s coverage of the mio TV’s previous exclu- cast, even as Malaysia’s As- viewers contemplating be- played. Sports in 2008. This was si- Changi, where concerns in in Business Class and 427 Champions League started sive set of rights to broad- tro and Indonesia’s Nexme- ing shut off from Champi- Both operators have multaneously a coup for recent days have centred seats in Economy Class – is with the first round of cast the Champions League dia managed to secure the ons League action for the been dragging their feet mio TV and a blow for on the loss of significant “pivotal” to the airline’s had ended in May. In the broadcast rights to the first time since Singapore over bidding for football StarHub, which carried business from Qantas, it matches aired early this overall business strategy. months that followed, view- 2012-2015 Uefa Champi- Cable Vision (SCV) started content ever since a new ESPN Star Sports in its could introduce more com- morning, while coverage of “Our passengers in Sin- airing the matches in the cross-carriage law took sports channels package. petition to SIA on its Euro- the Europa League will ers in Singapore were kept ons League. gapore can look forward to 1990s. SCV was eventually The rivalry between mio pean services. start with the first round of on tenterhooks about the The suspense continued away the incentive to sign enjoying the widely ad- acquired by StarHub in exclusive content last year. TV and StarHub then culmi- SIA operates direct ser- nated in a bidding war that mired and popular aircraft, 2002. Under the law, an operator vices to 13 European cities known for its quietness, This, however, is the lat- is obliged to share exclusive saw the former shelling out from Changi. Emirates pro- record sums for exclusive spaciousness and est in a string of content acquired from vides connections to more award-winning on-board rights to broadcast the Bar- touch-and-go negotiations March 12, 2010, with a than 30 European cities products, all the way from Anti-Japan protests clays Premier League (BPL) for football content in Singa- competitor’s viewers upon from Dubai. But industry in- Singapore into much of Eu- – estimated at $300 million. pore. The FA Cup tourna- request. siders reckon it could lure rope that includes Amster- Now, as mio TV’s exclu- travellers from Changi to ment, which started last Before the cross-car- dam, London Heathrow, rage on across China sive hold on the BPL match- connect via its Dubai hub Manchester, Munich, Paris week, will only start being riage law, the last time es comes to an end and the with more competitive aired by mio TV this Friday broadcast rights for the and Rome.” broadcast rights come up fares. after consensus on the dot- Champions League were Flight EK 354 departs led to another day of protests that were for renewal this month, lit- Emirates said the Dubai daily at 0325 hours Emotions run even higher ted line was reached only shopped around – then for smothered by a heavy blanket of security. tle news is forthcoming. launch of the services – (local time) and arrives in on anniversary of Japan’s late last week. the 2009-2012 seasons – in- Japanese businesses shut hundreds of While SingTel has con- making it the only airline to Singapore at 1440 hours (lo- occupation of parts of China stores and factories across China and Ja- Likewise, a deal to terest had been significant- firmed that it is bidding for use the A380 on this route – cal time). The return daily pan’s embassy in Beijing again came un- broadcast the FA Communi- ly higher. the rights, it maintained confirms Changi Airport’s flight, EK 355, departs Sin- [BEIJING] Anti-Japan protests reignited der siege by protesters hurling water bot- ty Shield on mio TV last The then-fledgling mio that “it is premature for us status as Emirates’ gapore at 2135 hours (local across China yesterday, the anniversary tles, waving Chinese flags, and chanting an- month also cut it close – an- TV had ended up victori- to discuss the details of the South-east Asian hub with time) and arrives in Dubai marking the day Japan began its occupa- ti-Japan slogans evoking war-time enmity. nounced the night before ous, wresting the rights bid”. over 1,100 seats daily con- at 0100 hours (local time). tion of parts of the country in 1931. The Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko event has escalated a maritime dispute Noda urged Beijing again to protect Japa- which has forced major Japanese brand- nese citizens in China. name firms to suspend business there. Rowdy protests sprang up in other ma- Relations between Asia’s two biggest jor cities including Shanghai, raising the iPhone optimism pulls Apple shares past US$700 economies have faltered badly, with emo- risk that they could get out of hand and tions running high on the streets and also backfire on Beijing, which has given tacit approval to them through state media. out at sea where two Japanese activists Monday. The stock has ad- steam on Sept 14, after it digital music and mobile ers and drawing new ones US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, vis- Firm got more than landed on an island at the centre of the dis- vanced 73 per cent this began taking orders for phones. Each new family of through incremental im- iting China to promote stronger Sino-US pute and Chinese ships entering territorial 2m orders for latest products helped the compa- provements to the hard- military ties, again called for calm and re- year. iPhone 5. Apple’s website waters around Japanese-administered is- ny boost revenue while in- ware and software of its straint. Washington has said that it would device in 24 hours The iPhone 5, which fea- said that new orders lands. ducing investors to snap up products while also cultivat- not take sides. tures a bigger screen, fast- wouldn’t ship until Sept 28, China reacted swiftly to the news of the more shares. ing a developer community China said that it wanted a peaceful out- [SAN FRANCISCO] Apple er chip and a lighter body, a week after the handset is landing, which risked inflaming a crisis Revenue increased to that cranks out thousands come. “We still hope for a peaceful and ne- shares traded above sold two million units in due in stores, an indication that already ranks as China’s worst out- US$35 billion in the June of applications for use on gotiated solution to this issue and we hope US$700 for the first time on first-day orders, more than that supply may be running break of anti-Japan sentiment in decades. quarter from US$1.73 bil- the company’s phones and to work together and work well with the Wall Street yesterday, amid double a record set by the thin. Beijing described the landing as provoca- lion in the last quarter be- computers, said Dan Mor- Japanese government,” Defence Minister optimism on the tech giant previous model, Apple “The initial batch is sold tive, lodged a complaint with Tokyo and fore Mr Jobs returned to Ap- ris, chief investment officer Liang Guanglie said after meeting Mr Pan- as it launches its new said. Since its 2007 debut, out,” Shaw Wu, an analyst said that it reserved the right to “take fur- ple in 1997. Apple’s shares at Morris Capital Advisors, etta. iPhone 5. the device has become Ap- at Sterne Agee & Leach Inc, ther action”. crossed the US$600 thresh- whose largest holding is Ap- The long-standing territorial dispute Apple rose as high as ple’s top-selling product, ac- said in an interview. He The activists had briefly landed on one old in July, after passing ple. bubbled over again last week when the Jap- US$701.44 in early trade, a counting for about raised his sales estimate for of the islands, having paddled up to it in a US$500 in February and The company’s shares anese government decided to nationalise two-thirds of profit. Signs the quarter ending in Sep- rubber raft and swum ashore before re- day after the Silicon Valley US$400 last year. are also getting a boost some of the islands, buying them from a of robust demand rein- tember to 26 million units, turning to the boat, Japanese broadcaster firm said that it received iPhone sales last quarter from a legal victory in Au- private Japanese owner. forced expectations that Ap- from 23 million. “We think NHK said. more than two million or- alone reached US$16.2 bil- gust, when a jury said Sam- The dispute has sent China-exposed ple will withstand accelerat- that could turn out to be A flotilla of around 1,000 Chinese fish- ders for its new iPhone 5 in lion, 33 per cent higher sung copied the iPhone. Japanese stocks down heavily on the To- ing boats was also reported by Chinese just 24 hours. ing competition from Sam- conservative.” than Google Inc’s total and Gains in coming months kyo stock market, raising concerns about and Japanese media to be heading to the Its shares had sur- sung Electronics Co and Apple surpassed Exxon almost as much as Micro- will hinge on the success of any wider impact on economic and trade area. passed US$700 in late trad- Google Inc in the US$219.1 Mobil Corp to become the soft Corp’s US$18.1 billion future products, such as a ties between the two countries. Platinum Japan’s coast guard said that three Chi- ing on Monday, fuelling op- billion smartphone market. biggest company in the in revenue. smaller version of the iPad prices also fell, partly on the disruption to nese marine surveillance ships briefly en- timism that the company “It leaves me in awe,” world by market capitalisa- As many as 58 million tablet, which according to Japanese car plants in China, traders said. tered what Japan considers its territorial will keep generating the rev- said Rex Ishibashi, chief ex- tion last year after overtak- units of the iPhone 5 may people with knowledge of The precious metal is used as an auto cata- waters near the disputed islets yesterday, enue growth that trans- ecutive officer of Callaway ing Microsoft Corp as the sell by the end of the year, the matter, will be released lyst. the second time since Friday when six formed it from a niche com- Digital Arts Inc, which de- most valuable technology according the average esti- next month. ships briefly entered the waters. There is no talk of Japanese firms with- puter manufacturer into velops games for the provider in 2010. Before mate of analysts surveyed For now, the share rally In 2010, a bilateral crisis over the is- drawing investment from China but some the world’s most valuable iPhone. “It’s reflective of his death in October, by Bloomberg. That could is poised to continue, ac- lands erupted after a fishing boat collided analysts believe that anti-Japan sentiment business. how important these devic- co-founder Steve Jobs mas- generate as much as cording to analysts who, on with a Japanese coast guard vessel. could prompt firms to rethink China invest- Shares climbed as high es and these digital technol- tered a strategy of pushing US$36.2 billion in sales for average, are predicting that The dispute over the uninhabited group ments in the longer term. – Reuters as US$701.79 after reach- ogies have become in our Apple beyond its core busi- Apple. Apple will rise to about of islands in the East China Sea – known as ☛ Trouble for Japanese carmakers ing a record US$699.78 at lives.” ness of selling computers in- Apple has grown adept US$773 in the coming 12 Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China – in China, Page 23 the close in New York on Apple’s surge gathered to new markets, including at keeping existing custom- months. - Bloomberg, AFP