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5 Things About Wakaf Properties In Singapore

New strata villas at Jalan Haji Alias are the latest Islamic-endowed properties to be launched by Warees Investments, the real estate development arm of the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis).

The 30,450 sq ft land parcel off Sixth Avenue was bequeathed in 1905, and also houses the 110-year-old mosque, Masjid Al-Huda.

Known as wakaf properties, developments such as this are built on land bequeathed or willed by a Muslim towards religious or charitable uses.

They now include serviced apartments, cluster housing, commercial buildings, and a heritage centre.

Here are five things you may not have known about wakaf in Singapore.

1. Long history in Singapore

This practice of religious endowment originated in the Middle East, where it is known as waqf. It was introduced to Singapore by Arab traders almost 200 years ago.

The first wakaf documented in Singapore was created in 1820. The Omar Mosque off Havelock Road was endowed by Yemen-born businessman Syed Omar Ali Aljunied. The mosque is also the oldest one in Singapore.

Many wakaf were given by Arab and Indian Muslim merchants, and a number of important wakaf were established in the 19th century. The number of new wakaf have dwindled in recent years.

2. Wakaf properties

There are more than 100 wakaf properties, according to Muis. Most are managed by Muis, while a number are managed by trustees. The properties were valued at $584 million as of December 2013.

They include:

Residential properties at Duku Road, Telok Indah

Serviced apartments at Somerset Bencoolen

Commercial properties at Dunlop Street, Kandahar Street, Pagoda Street, South Bridge Road, Telok Ayer Street, Temple Street, Changi Road, North Bridge Road, Upper Dickson Road and Joo Chiat Road.

Wakaf mosques such as Masjid Haji Md Salleh, Masjid Khalid, Masjid Khadijah, Masjid Kassim and Masjid Bencoolen.

The Chancery Residence, cluster housing at Chancery Lane

Madrasah Al-Maarif Al-Islamiah at Lorong 39 Geylang

A six-storey commercial building at 11 Beach Road which Muis bought in 2001

3. Where does the money go?

Last year, Muis gave $2.17 million to 60 beneficiaries. The largest beneficiaries are mosques, says Muis. Sixty-two per cent of wakaf funds are distributed to them, and 9 per cent to madrasahs.

Other beneficiaries are the poor and needy, as well as charitable organisations. Some funds are disbursed to foreign countries according to the donors’ wills.

4. Revitalisation of wakaf land

Warees Investments – the real-estate development arm of Muis – was set up in 2001 to find ways to enhance the value of wakaf land.

In recent years, it has embarked on a wakaf revitalisation scheme to rejuvenate properties in its care.

Its first project under the scheme is the Red House Bakery in Katong, which philanthropist Sheriffa Zain Alsharoff Mohamed Alsagoff put in trust in 1957.

The integrated heritage development project, called The Red House, will consist of 42 residential units and six shophouses. It will be completed in 2016.

The Alias Villas are the second project to be unveiled. There will be another project in the city centre, Warees told The Straits Times in an interview in 2013.

5. Overseas expansion

Warees signed a memorandum of understanding with property management firm CPG Facilities Management in 2005 to explore joint-venture opportunities abroad. It is offering its property management and development services to Muslim countries in the region and the Middle East.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

February 2, 2015
Positive Outlook For Singapore Economy In Immediate Future

With a strong pipeline of investments, the overall outlook for Singapore looks positive in the immediate future, said Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang.

However, he also cautioned that Singapore faces some challenges in the immediate one to two years – these include an ageing population and the task of matching Singaporeans’ aspirations.

Mr Lim was speaking during a visit to the Braddell Heights ward on Sunday (Feb 1) – his first visit in 20 years. During a dialogue with residents of the ward, he was asked for his take on Singapore’s future economy and population.

Citing a 2011 World Bank study of 101 middle-income countries, Mr Lim noted that Singapore was one of just 13 countries that managed to move from middle- to high-income, over a period of 50 years.

But he stressed that Singapore still has to be cautious: “What it means for us as we celebrate 50 years is – number one, it is not very easy to become a high income country; and number two, it is also not very easy to stay there.

“There is a lot of competition and if you mismanage like some countries – for example Greece – you can drop very quickly and the drop need not be gradual, it can be a very severe drop over a period of five years. As we look after Singapore and we look to our future, let us be careful and reinforce those things which make us successful. Let us also be careful not to fall down the slippery slope and end up with such problems.”

With investments coming into Singapore and local companies investing overseas, Mr Lim said he is confident that the country will be able to maintain steady growth of between two and four per cent. This is because of Singapore’s strong pipeline of investments, the Economic Development Board still being able to attract investments to Singapore, and Singapore companies investing overseas – which allow them to generate good jobs with their headquarters in Singapore to look after their overseas subsidiaries.

However, he cautioned that there may be some ups and downs. One challenge is the slowdown in Europe, China and Japan’s economic engines.

“We have to find new opportunities for our companies. But overall, we are still optimistic that we can generate the jobs and the big challenge now is how to match Singaporeans with these jobs,” said Mr Lim.

“HUMAN RESOURCE IS THE BEST AND ONLY RESOURCE WE HAVE”

Thus the need for Singapore’s focus on education and training. “Human resource is the best and only resource that we have. Other resources, like land and energy, will face greater constraints. If you look at what we’ve achieved in the last 50 years and look ahead to the next 50 years, there’s optimism we can do more,” said Mr Lim.

He cited how in 1966, only half of Singaporeans continued education past the primary six level. This is reflected in a high percentage of the current workforce having primary and secondary level qualifications.

But Mr Lim noted that this demographic has changed – more than 50 per cent of those who are under 30 and entering the workforce are now graduates. Another 30 per cent are polytechnic graduates, with less than 15 to 20 per cent having primary or secondary school qualifications.

He said that while an increasingly educated workforce is welcomed, this poses challenges as well and the economy has to adapt: “If your restaurants depend currently on the older workers with less education to be serving them – 10 to 15 years from now, these people will not be in the workforce. Your new workforce are polytechnic diploma holders and graduates. Therefore, you have to restructure your service industry to cater for this new profile of workers.

“In MTI and MOM, we are very concerned and we study all these statistics very carefully… The objective given to us is to make sure we are able to restructure the economy, make sure we can generate good jobs that satisfy and meet the aspirations of our new workers.”

About 280 people attended the dialogue, which lasted for over an hour. Questions ranged from Singapore’s education system, to changing consumer habits and the Central Provident Fund. One participant also asked what the role of SMEs looks like in Singapore’s future. Mr Lim said that moving forward, it will be key to have a strong pipeline of startups and SMEs, and to facilitate local SME tie-ups with big companies and foreign SMEs.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

February 2, 2015
Tharman: Budget 2015 To Address Needs Of All Singaporeans

Singapore’s upcoming budget will likely address issues on retirement adequacy and ensuring good careers for the young and middle-aged, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, as he provided a rare glimpse of Budget 2015.

Speaking on the sidelines of NUS’ anniversary celebrations in Taman Jurong on Sunday (Feb 1), Mr Tharman said the budget will provide greater assurance particularly for the lower-income seniors.

He said the Government is in the final stages of shaping the Silver Support scheme. The new initiative, which was announced at last year’s National Day Rally, will see the Government pay an annual bonus to low-income elderly Singaporeans from age 65 to help them cope with their living expenses.

“Providing assurances in retirement for our seniors is a very important priority – not just for today’s generation of seniors but those in future as well. It is a strengthening of our social security system,” said Mr Tharman.

Besides retirement adequacy, Mr Tharman said what is equally important is ensuring that young and middle-aged Singaporeans have fulfilling careers: “We have always got to look to the future – anticipate the challenges, prepare our people and equip them with the capabilities and the expertise that they need to do well, individually as well as collectively as Singapore.

“When we talk about good careers, it is not just about those who are today in school or in our tertiary institutions and about to start their careers. It is also about our mid-career Singaporeans.”

The finance minister emphasised that the budget initiatives will not stand on its own. He said it is a continuation of what the government has been doing in the past, especially the last five years.

Mr Tharman said steps have been taken that are significantly transforming Singapore’s social and economic landscape, such as strengthening affordability in healthcare and housing for the lower and middle-income groups.

He said that this year’s budget, which comes along with Singapore’s 50th anniversary, will address both the needs of today and tomorrow. Mr Tharman will deliver Singapore’s Budget for 2015 in Parliament on Feb 23.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

February 2, 2015
2 Foreigners Found Dead In Hotel 81 Palace Geylang

Two people were found dead in Hotel 81 Palace at Lorong 16 Geylang on Sunday (Feb 1), in what is believed to be a murder-cum-suicide case.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said they were alerted to the incident at 7.50pm. A woman in her 20s and a man in his 30s were pronounced dead at the scene.

Channel NewsAsia understands that the two dead are a 29-year-old woman from Indonesia and a 31-year-old man from India. Both were in Singapore on work permits.

They were both found motionless in a room on the third floor of the hotel. The man was fully dressed, while the woman was partially clothed, with visible injuries on her body.

The hotel’s manager declined to comment on the incident.

Police investigations are ongoing.

Source www.channelnewsasia.com

February 2, 2015
Islamic State Terrorists Ransack Library In Mosul Iraq

BAGHDAD — When Islamic State group militants invaded the Central Library of Mosul earlier this month, they were on a mission to destroy a familiar enemy: other people’s ideas.

Residents say the extremists smashed the locks that had protected the biggest repository of learning in the northern Iraq town, and loaded around 2,000 books — including children’s stories, poetry, philosophy and tomes on sports, health, culture and science — into six pickup trucks. They left only Islamic texts.

The rest?

“These books promote infidelity and call for disobeying Allah. So they will be burned,” a bearded militant in traditional Afghani two-piece clothing told residents, according to one man living nearby who spoke to The Associated Press. The man, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared retaliation, said the Islamic State group official made his impromptu address as others stuffed books into empty flour bags.

Since the Islamic State group seized a third of Iraq and neighbouring Syria, they have sought to purge society of everything that doesn’t conform to their violent interpretation of Islam. They already have destroyed many archaeological relics, deeming them pagan, and even Islamic sites considered idolatrous. Increasingly books are in the firing line.

Mosul, the biggest city in the Islamic State group’s self-declared caliphate, boasts a relatively educated, diverse population that seeks to preserve its heritage sites and libraries. In the chaos that followed the US-led invasion of 2003 that toppled Saddam Hussein, residents near the Central Library hid some of its centuries-old manuscripts in their own homes to prevent their theft or destruction by looters.

But this time, the Islamic State group has made the penalty for such actions death. Presumed destroyed are the Central Library’s collection of Iraqi newspapers dating to the early 20th century, maps and books from the Ottoman Empire and book collections contributed by around 100 of Mosul’s establishment families.

Days after the Central Library’s ransacking, militants broke into University of Mosul’s library. They made a bonfire out of hundreds of books on science and culture, destroying them in front of students.

A University of Mosul history professor, who spoke on condition he not be named because of his fear of the Islamic State group, said the extremists started wrecking the collections of other public libraries last month. He reported particularly heavy damage to the archives of a Sunni Muslim library, the library of the 265-year-old Latin Church and Monastery of the Dominican Fathers and the Mosul Museum Library with works dating back to 5000 BC.

Citing reports by the locals who live near these libraries, the professor added that the militants used to come during the night and carry the materials in refrigerated trucks with Syria-registered license plates. The fate of these old materials is still unknown.

The professor said Islamic State group militants appeared determined to “change the face of this city…by erasing its iconic buildings and history”.

Since routing government forces and seizing Mosul last summer, the Islamic State group has destroyed dozens of historic sites, including the centuries-old Islamic mosque shrines of the prophets Seth, Jirjis and Jonah.

An Iraqi lawmaker, Hakim al-Zamili, said the Islamic State group “considers culture, civilization and science as their fierce enemies”.

Al-Zamili, who leads the parliament’s Security and Defense Committee, compared the Islamic State group to raiding medieval Mongols, who in 1258 ransacked Baghdad. Libraries’ ancient collections of works on history, medicine and astronomy were dumped into the Tigris River, purportedly turning the waters black from running ink.

“The only difference is that the Mongols threw the books in the Tigris River, while now Daesh is burning them,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group. “Different method, but same mentality”.

Source: www.todayonline.com

February 2, 2015