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China’s central bank is pushing back with growing regularity on market worries that Asia’s biggest economy may be sliding toward deflation.
In April, China’s consumer price index rose just 0.1% year on year, putting the economy on the edge of negative territory but not yet deep into the problem.
Indeed, China may currently be experiencing “disinflation” rather than a long-term trend toward deflation. Yet if Japan taught policymakers around the globe anything it’s that deflation concerns can quickly take on a life of their own.
That’s a problem that China must not take lightly, economists say. And it’s high time People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang shut down – and firmly – a narrative that Beijing hardly needs as market worries mount about the health of China’s post-Covid economic recovery.
Strategist Vincent Chan at Aletheia Capital speaks for many when he warns that China is at the “borderline of deflation.”
That same goes for analyst Kelvin Wong at OANDA. “To address this ongoing growth slowdown in China that may lead to a deflationary spiral, which in turn can potentially trigger an adverse impact on countries that export goods and services to China such as Singapore, the Chinese central bank needs to switch away from its current conservative stance to loosen its liquidity tap further to stimulate growth,” Wong argues.
Long-time Japan observers may detect some troubling echoes as Fu Linghui, spokesperson for China’s National Bureau of Statistics, insists that there’s “no deflation” in the economy. And if there is, it’s “transitory.”
This last word might trigger PTSD from similar assurances emanating from Tokyo in the late 1990s. Or their mirror image — “don’t worry, inflation is transitory” — coming from Washington these last two years.
As Nikkei Asia points out in an investigative report this week, consumer prices in mainland provinces Jilin, Shanxi, Guizhou, Liaoning, Anhui, Henan and Shanghai turned negative in April. Data from Chinese research company Wind Show corroborate Nikkei’s findings.
The question, of course, is what to do. A key Xi priority has been to reduce leverage and debt — from local government balance sheets to property developers.
Yet if the focus is on debt reduction while nothing is done to fix the housing sector, then that could be a recipe for deflation.
For now, says economist Raymond Yeung at ANZ Research, the “core view is that China’s economy is deflationary.”
Others argue it’s too early to know where China’s price trends will be six months from now.
“While claims that China has entered a deflationary period are excessive, the data indicate that China’s economy continues to be hamstrung by low effective demand,” says economist Yu Yongding, who served on the PBOC’s Monetary Policy Committee from 2004 to 2006. “Official figures also support the claim that China’s GDP growth has been below potential for some time.”
Yu notes that Xi’s government seems reluctant to shoot for a higher growth target than this year’s 5%, in part out of fear that it might exacerbate China’s debt imbalances. At the same time, though, Yu says there’s a risk of a “self-fulfilling prophecy, by weakening confidence and failing to exploit growth potential fully.”
Some of Beijing’s policy options, including cash transfers, might give household consumption an immediate lift.
But “as China’s government well knows,” Yu notes, “consumption is a function of income, a sustained, broad-based increase in incomes depends on economic growth, and infrastructure investment is traditionally the state’s most effective instrument for boosting growth when effective demand is weak. Despite past investments, China still has a large infrastructure gap that urgently needs to be closed.”
Rescuing the property sector might pay the highest dividends. Since January, Xi’s government unleashed a barrage of measures to reduce restrictions on borrowing by developers, curb risks of “capital chain breaks” in the sector as property purchase contracts fall through suddenly, extend lower mortgage rates to incentivize demand for homes and limit commissions for real estate agents.
Economists point out that easing the so-called “three red lines” policy is becoming more urgent. It establishes caps on key metrics debt-to-cash, debt-to-assets and debt-to-equity ratios. Many see this policy as the trigger for many of the biggest real estate stumbles in recent years.
Since the directive already demands that developers disclose details on their debts, it seems feasible to allow property companies to leverage up a bit and delay deadlines for debt targets without fanning new bubbles.
Other solutions include extending lower mortgage rates to first-home buyers in environments where prices of new properties are slumping. There’s also scope for once again allowing private equity funds to play a bigger role in raising capital for residential property projects.
Whatever the strategy, more attention must go toward restoring investor confidence, as strategist Winnie Wu at Bank of America Corp sees it. Since the property sector is “a key concern” for global investors, she says, revitalizing it seems crucial to restoring confidence in Chinese asset markets.
That confidence seems in short supply this month. Chinese stocks are on the precipice of bear market territory amid worries about a slowing economy, geopolitical and trade tensions and deflation fears.
Mainland shares traded in Hong Kong – as measured by the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index – are near the 20% loss threshold for the year.
The drop in profits among Chinese industrial firms, which had a rough first four months of 2023, is weighing on the broader indices. This downshift told skittish investors all they need to know about China’s slowing demand and deepening factory-gate deflation.
Data due out Wednesday – especially China’s Purchasing Managers Index for the manufacturing sector – are widely expected to signal further contraction in April.
Analyst Karl Shen at Fitch Ratings notes that China’s secondary-home market “has been cooling since April, with a fall in the number of listed-for-sale homes, lower asking prices and fewer transactions.”
This slowdown, Shen says, follows a “strong rebound” in the first quarter, “suggesting homebuyer confidence remains fragile amid an uncertain economic outlook and weak employment prospect.”
Shen says the drop in average asking prices is likely driven by homebuyers’ hesitation to make purchases and home-upgraders’ selling of their existing homes at lower prices to facilitate faster transactions.
The number of homes listed for sale has also decreased, indicating that many homeowners are delaying the sale amid pricing pressure, and may continue to weigh on transaction volume.
Even so, economist Wei He at Gavekal Research can’t help but wonder if the negativity is overdone.
“Markets have executed a complete volte-face on China’s growth prospects, from exuberance on an expected world-shaking boom to pricing in deep pessimism — is this reversal justified?” he asks.
“For commodity prices, the answer is probably yes. Even a strong cyclical rebound led by spending on consumer services was never going to be as good for commodities as the investment-driven cycles of the past. And the bounce in construction once expected by commodity producers has clearly not materialized, with property developers scarred by the past and uncertain about the future.”
Yet, He adds, “for Chinese government bonds and the renminbi, the recession trade has probably overshot. Recent market prices imply a growth outlook for 2023 as bad as that during the depths of 2022’s lockdowns — a fairly unlikely outcome. Despite all the bad headlines, the labor market is still recovering and companies are planning to expand. This could be a good moment to sell Chinese bonds and buy the renminbi.”
It’s also a good moment, though, for Xi’s new premier, Li Qiang, to buttress his reformist bona fides. Since rising to the No 2 job, Li has managed to lower the temperature surrounding Beijing’s crackdown on Big Tech. Now, it’s time to recalibrate economic dynamics in China – starting with a property market in dire need of restructuring.
The lessons from Japan are to act early and boldly to stop deflationary forces in their tracks. By the time they become ingrained, it might already be too late.
Follow William Pesek on Twitter at @WilliamPesek
Additionally, self-ordering kiosks have popped up across fast food chains and bubble tea outlets in recent years.
With the influx of these machines, the future of eateries could see minimal kitchen and floor staff. Current employees will have to be reskilled in areas like customer satisfaction and service improvement.
Industry players said the jobs transformation is already taking place, and both employers and employees in the food and beverage (F&B) sector must embrace the changes or be left behind.
“The most challenging part is the mindset. There must be a willingness to adapt,” said Mr Andrew Kwan, president of the Restaurant Association of Singapore.
“There must be an agility of the mind to say, ‘let’s recognise the trends and make adjustments accordingly’.”
To help the sector, a Jobs Transformation Map was launched last week, laying out plans for workers to upskill themselves and take on new roles, such as sustainability specialists or restaurant designers.
“For the workers, it is more critical now than ever to adapt to the speed of changes, and to keep on improving their skills and knowledge,” said Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling.
“Workers who take charge of their own career and professional development by constantly acquiring new skills are the ones who will stay relevant and highly employable.”
Firms looking to redesign jobs can get up to 70 per cent funding support.
An up to 90 per cent wage subsidy scheme is also in place for employers who are reskilling existing workers for new roles.
Ms Low said there is growing consumer demand for convenience, personalised and experiential services, and sustainable practices.
Another key trend shift she highlighted is a greater adoption of technology for digital solutions and automation equipment since the COVID-19 pandemic.
An ageing local workforce and changing career aspirations of Singapore’s youth have also led to more competition for workers.
These challenges mean that companies need to redesign jobs, embrace technology, and optimise their manpower model to stay competitive, Ms Low said.
Last year, the food services industry employed about 235,000 workers and contributed some S$4.5 billion to Singapore’s economy.
TOKYO – Kyoto Fusioneering is raising big new money from domestic venture capital funds, banks and energy, engineering and trading companies, the latest indication that nuclear fusion energy ventures are becoming increasingly investible in Japan.
On May 17, Kyoto Fusioneering announced its 10.5 billion yen (US$75 million) Series C funding round had been oversubscribed, marking a repeat of its Series B fund-raising in February 2022.
The nation’s most prominent nuclear fusion technology developer has now raised 12.2 billion yen ($87 million) since it was spun out of Kyoto University in October 2019.
Kyoto Fusioneering’s management says it plans to use the new capital to hire more engineers, accelerate the development of fusion reactor materials and key components, develop its power plant engineering capability and continue its expansion in the UK and US.
Even before the new capital infusion, the company has already benefitted from the expertise of its corporate investors and the development of new technologies that could give it an early edge in what is expected to become a very large and highly competitive global fusion market.
INPEX, Japan’s largest oil and gas exploration and production company, said it invested in Kyoto Fusioneering because it was “the first initiative deemed to have commercial potential” under the INPEX Challenge Program, an in-house venture capital scheme established in 2021.
Read: “Japan boldly igniting a national fusion revolution“
“Through this investment, INPEX will explore the possibilities of supplying fusion energy by supporting Kyoto Fusioneering’s technological and operational development, while utilizing the knowledge cultivated through its own energy development business.”
In a transition away from fossil fuels, INPEX is conducting R&D in carbon capture, storage and recycling, hydrogen and ammonia, wind and geothermal energy, and now nuclear fusion.
The company’s ownership structure reflects the close nexus between corporate and official Japan. INPEX is 21.2%-owned by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and 4.1%-owned by Japan Petroleum Exploration (JAPEX), which in turn is 34.9%-owned by METI and 5.1% by INPEX.
Helical Fusion, another local start-up that aims to build a commercial helical fusion reactor, has reportedly raised capital from telecom carrier KDDI’s Green Partners Fund, the Nikon-SBI Innovation Fund and SBI Investment, which is also aiming to build a helical fusion reactor.
Funds raised in April this year and November last year will be used by Helical Fusion to fund its ongoing development of a helical fusion reactor, superconducting magnets and other related technologies.
Helical reactors are spiral-shaped and are a type of stellarator that confines plasma using magnetic fields. The technology is regarded as particularly well-suited for commercial reactors due to its stable operation.
Headquartered in Tokyo, Helical Fusion was founded in 2021 with technology developed by Japan’s National Institute for Fusion Science. It has so far received about $6 million in seed funding from Japanese venture capital and corporate investors.
Helical Fusion’s R&D is led by co-CEO Junichi Miyazawa, a nuclear physicist from the Graduate School of Engineering at Nagoya University; Board Member Takaya Goto, a specialist in fusion reactor system design and professor at the National Institute for Fusion Science; and science advisor Akio Sagara, a nuclear engineer and professor emeritus at Japan’s National Institute for Fusion Science.
EX-Fusion, yet another fusion start-up founded in 2021 and headquartered in Osaka, is venturing to commercialize laser-based nuclear fusion. It reports raising 261 million yen ($1.9 million) in 2022 from a Tokyo-based venture capital firm and Osaka University Venture Capital.
The company was founded by Shinsuke Fujioka from Osaka University’s Institute of Laser Engineering; Kazuki Matsuo, a specialist in laser fusion and high energy density plasma from Osaka University’s Graduate School of Science; and Yoshitaka Mori, associate professor at the Graduate School for the Creation of New Photonics Industries (GSCNPI) in the Japanese city of Hamamatsu.
Via GSCNPI, EX-Fusion has introduced laser technology from Hamamatsu Photonics, a locally-based company that currently makes the world’s most powerful semiconductor lasers. Hamamatsu Photonics is working to develop a pulsed laser with the energy and repetition rate required for nuclear fusion.
In April, METI Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura visited GSCNPI, EX-Fusion’s R&D facility housed there and Hamamatsu Photonics, which was the driving force behind the school’s creation.
EX-Fusion has also joined the Institute of Laser Engineering, the University of Adelaide, Australian laser fusion company HB11 and other companies in a high-intensity laser project in Australia.
Underscoring the increasing investability of Japanese nuclear fusion ventures, Kyoto Fusioneering’s Series C funding attracted a wide and deep range of Japanese investors, including:
Among them, JGC is Japan’s top plant engineering, procurement and construction company. Mitsubishi Corporation is its largest general trading company. MOL PLUS is the corporate venture capital fund of shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines.
For more detail on the origin, technology and business activities of Kyoto Fusioneering, see my February 2022 article in Asia Times.
Follow this writer on Twitter: @ScottFo83517667
South Africa has struggled to keep the lights on for more than a decade. The country’s aging coal power plants have fallen into disrepair. Resources set aside for fixing the infrastructure have been squandered.
The national electricity utility Eskom is rife with corruption and mismanagement stemming from the tenure of former president Jacob Zuma. The result is rolling blackouts, known locally as load shedding, that have crippled the economy.
Eskom officials have recently warned of even higher blackouts ahead of winter arriving in June. Increased power outages could see South Africans without power for up to 16 hours in a 32-hour cycle.
This is a sad story of isolated government mismanagement. But it also has international dimensions that climate and governance policymakers worldwide should follow closely.
According to many analysts and politicians in South Africa, the power crisis is a self-inflicted wound. Under Zuma, Eskom was turned into a virtual piggybank for corrupt officials who would drain the utility’s coffers of taxpayer money earmarked for vital repairs. In recent years, power plants have been the scene of diesel theft as Eskom has used diesel generators as a backup for the aging coal plants.
The result is historic power outages. Eskom interim chief executive officer Calib Cassim has said the power utility had about 47,500 megawatts of installed capacity but could only use 26,500MW because of plant breakdowns. Thus Eskom must resort to various levels of power outages known as stages to make up the deficit.
The country is bracing for the record high level of “Stage 8” power outages, severely impacting businesses and people’s daily lives.
“It is going to be quite hard for businesses to survive when we go beyond Stage 6. We already see that at Stage 6 load-shedding the impacts are quite dire – prolonged periods at Stage 8 will be devastating,” Happy Khambule, Business Unity SA environment, energy and climate manager, told Business Day.
Ironically, South Africa has sizable deposits of coal. Aside from the horrific environmental toll of burning coal, South Africa could have some form of energy independence if it could weed out its corruption and mismanagement problems.
In addition to coal and other mineral deposits, South Africa has bountiful wind and solar energy reservoirs. The amount of wind energy just off the coast of Cape Town is virtually limitless given the power and regularity of storms in the South Atlantic. The problem is building the infrastructure required to harness the power.
Infrastructure problems can be resolved with capital, but South Africa faces systemic legislative and political barriers to unlocking its renewable energy reserves.
The City of Cape Town’s ongoing battle with the national government is emblematic of the challenges facing South Africa and other countries. National legislation in South Africa is outdated and designed to protect state-owned entities such as Eskom.
Until last year, it was against the law for private producers to generate more than 100MW of electricity. The result was a virtually non-existent renewable energy sector at scale. President Cyril Ramaphosa has since rolled back these regressive laws, but renewable energy has struggled to get off the ground regarding large-scale projects.
That could soon change, as Cape Town recently announced a major solar and battery storage project to generate more than 60MW and shield the city from at least one load-shedding stage. The city is also exploring ways to purchase power from small producers and households using solar energy. This model has worked in places like California but has never been tested in South Africa because of legislative blocks.
While Cape Town is securing renewable energy sources, the South African government is debating the use of offshore power ships from Turkey to ease the power crisis. Even this temporary measure to give the country much-needed power while considering a long-term solution has been mired in mismanagement and chaos.
South Africa’s energy crisis is one of the clearest examples of the hostile role government can play in the renewable energy transition. Put simply, the national government worries that it will lose its monopoly on energy production if it allows businesses and individuals to embrace renewables fully.
This dynamic is bound to repeat in countries worldwide as renewable-energy production costs continue to fall, and more people can outfit themselves with solar panels or wind power.
With the COP28 climate conference set to kick off in Dubai this November, the details of South Africa’s energy crisis should be top of mind for all those involved and concerned about an equitable renewable-energy future.
Not only should foreign governments and companies look to help South Africa in its quest for large-scale renewable energy (there is ample business opportunity, after all), but policymakers should listen closely to the internal debates about the shift to renewables.
Even countries with ample natural resources face political hurdles and government mismanagement in delivering power to businesses and individuals. Without power, delicate social relations are at risk in many societies worldwide.
This article was provided by Syndication Bureau, which holds copyright.
Follow Joseph Dana on Twitter @ibnezra.
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The Constitutional Court may suspend Move Forward Party (MFP) leader Pita Limjaroenrat if it agrees to hear the case involving his media share ownership, says Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam.
The Election Commission (EC) has begun its probe into whether Mr Pita, who is the party’s list-MP and prime minister candidate, was eligible to run in the election due to his alleged holding of 42,000 shares in a media company.
The constitution prohibits electoral candidates from holding stakes in media companies.
Mr Wissanu said the EC might endorse Mr Pita as a list-MP while the probe is underway, and if the EC rules in Mr Pita’s favour, the case is closed. However, if the poll agency rules against him, the case will be brought to the Constitutional Court, which may suspend Mr Pita pending its decision.
The EC can investigate the complaint before or after the election results are officially announced.
The deputy prime minister cited as an example the case against Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, former leader of the now-dissolved Future Forward Party (FFP), who was accused of violating the share-holding rule.
The court voted to suspend Mr Thanathorn as an MP when accepting the case against him in May 2019.
Mr Thanathorn was then nominated as prime minister for a vote in parliament in June while the ruling was handed down in November of that year.
When asked about the intent of the share-holding rule, Mr Wissanu said the matter is decided by the Constitutional Court, adding that the charter does not address the size of shares or a media company.
However, he noted that previous court rulings on similar share-holding violation claims against electoral candidates might be used to predict the outcome of the case against Mr Pita.
Meanwhile, political activist Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, who sought the EC probe into Mr Pita’s share-holding, yesterday gave a statement to the EC on the case and submitted the previous Constitutional Court rulings on holding shares to the poll agency.
Top US and Chinese trade officials have resumed trade talks but both sides continue to threaten each other with semiconductor industry-related sanctions.
China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo had “candid and substantive discussions” in a meeting in Washington on May 25, according to news reports quoting official statements.
But on May 27, Raimondo announced the conclusion of negotiations on a landmark Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Supply Chain Agreement that irked Chinese officials.
According to the agreement, 14 IPEF member countries including the US, Australia, India and Japan will create a new IPEF Supply Chain Crisis Response Network that can serve as an emergency communications channel when one or more partners face an acute supply chain crisis.
They will also create an IPEF Supply Chain Council to oversee the development of sector-specific action plans designed to build resilience and competitiveness in critical commercial areas.
“Regional cooperation frameworks, in whatever name, need to stay open and inclusive, rather than discriminatory or exclusive,” Mao Ning, a Chinese government spokesperson, said on Monday about the IPEF.
“Disrupting the function of the market, politicizing normal trade activities and setting barriers to hinder industrial cooperation such as semiconductor cooperation is the biggest risk to supply chain stability.”
Mao said Japan and the US should not undermine other countries to perpetrate hegemony or protect what she characterized as “selfish” interests.
Chinese state media on Monday also criticized Raimondo for pushing forward an agreement expressly created to suppress and contain China. The state reports said Beijing will fight back if the US imposes more technology curbs on China.
“Fourteen IPEF countries led by the US have reached a consensus to improve the resilience and security of their supply chains of semiconductors and key minerals,” Xin Bin, a commentator, wrote in an article published by the Communist Party-run Global Times on Monday, “But this will only hurt the stability of the world’s supply chain.”
“The purpose of the Biden administration’s foreign economic policy is not to ensure the interests of the US’s allies, but to use the allies to strengthen the US’s own supply chains and contain China,” the Global Times report said.
China had been unwilling to talk to the US for months after bilateral tensions spiked due a Chinese spy balloon that was spotted in North American airspace in late January.
The situation was poised to deteriorate further in April after reports indicated US President Joe Biden would soon sign an executive order to restrict US companies and private equity and venture capital funds from investing in China’s high technology sectors.
The US has not yet unveiled the investment curbs but it successfully persuaded other G7 countries to join hands to “de-risk,” rather than “decouple,” from China during the G7 Summit held in Hiroshima, Japan, from May 19-21.
Tit for tat, Beijing announced on May 21 that China’s key national infrastructure operators are barred from purchasing products from Micron Technology because the US chip maker reputedly poses network security risks.
On May 23, the Japanese government officially said it will add 23 items, including advanced chip-making equipment, to its list of regulated exports to China. The new measures will take effect on July 23.
China’s Ministry of Commerce said Monday that Wang had expressed its diplomatic discontent to Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura during a recent meeting over the matter.
“Japan ignored China’s strong opposition and insisted on introducing semiconductor export control measures, which seriously violated international economic and trade rules and severely damaged the foundation of industrial development,” Wang told Nishimura during an APEC ministerial meeting held on May 25-26. “China is strongly dissatisfied with this and urges Japan to correct its wrong practices.”
“We hope that Japan will correct its perception of China and truly promote the stable development of economic and trade relations between the two countries with a constructive attitude,” he said.
Wang also said China firmly opposes the G7 Leaders’ Statement on Economic Resilience and Economic Security, which called for adopting a common approach to de-risk and diversify the West’s economic ties with both Beijing and Moscow.
Meanwhile, in a May 25 meeting with Wang in Washington, Raimondo raised concerns about the recent spate of actions Beijing has taken against US companies operating in mainland China.
She said in a media briefing on May 27 that the US government “firmly opposes” China’s ban on Micron and “won’t tolerate” the restrictions, which she characterized as “plain and simple economic coercion.”
Similarly, Beijing expressed concerns about US trade policy, semiconductor sanctions, export bans and outbound investment screening against China at the meeting, a Shanxi-based writer said in an article published by Paitou Observe, a social media account operated by the state-owned Defense Times, on May 28.
“The US wants to resume dialogues with China but it keeps stepping up its efforts to contain China,” the columnist wrote. “Perhaps the US is now feeling guilty. It tries to use the term ‘de-risking’ to describe its decoupling with China.”
He wrote the ban on Micron’s products is likely only the first round of countermeasures to be imposed in retaliation against the US’ tech curbs. He says China will cooperate with the US only if it can show more sincerity.
Before meeting with Raimondo, Wang chaired a meeting with major US companies including Johnson & Johnson, 3M, Dow, Merck and Honeywell in Shanghai on May 22. The American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai also attended the meeting.
The Shanxi-based writer said in an article on May 25 that by holding a meeting with top American firms, Wang wanted to emphasize that China is still committed to high-level opening of the economy and continues to place high importance on attracting foreign investment.
The same writer also noted that some US officials have described the Micron ban as “retaliation,” making some US firms worry that they will be targeted by China in the same way.
“Actually, China did not ban all Micron’s products, but only those used in key information infrastructure, such as government departments, state-owned enterprises and financial institutions,” he wrote. “China’s ban on Micron is a preliminary warning: only naughty children will be punished.”
He wrote that China is confident that Micron’s current market share in the country will be absorbed by Chinese chip makers such as Yangtze Memory Technologies Co and ChangXin Memory Technologies.
Matthew Miller, a US State Department spokesperson, said on May 22 that Beijing’s action against Micron is inconsistent with China’s assertion “that it is open for business and committed to a transparent regulatory framework.”
Read: With Micron ban, China says no to ‘de-risking’
Follow Jeff Pao on Twitter at @jeffpao3
Candidates, who must be at least 45 years old, will need to satisfy the PEC that they are a “person of integrity, good character and reputation” and must also meet the relevant public sector or private sector service requirements.
To fulfil the public sector condition, presidential candidates must have held office – for at least three years – as a minister, chief justice, Speaker of Parliament, attorney-general or permanent secretary among others.
Chief executives of key statutory boards or government-owned companies like Temasek also qualify.
Meanwhile, private sector candidates must have served for at least three years as chief executive of a company that has at least S$500 million (US$370 million) in shareholders’ equity and has made profit after tax throughout those three years.
On Nomination Day, prospective candidates must present their nomination papers and certificates to the returning officer in person at the nomination centre between 11am and 12pm.
A Returning Officer is an individual who has been appointed by the Prime Minister to oversee the impartial and smooth conduct of elections.
If only one candidate is successfully nominated, the Returning Officer will declare that person as the elected president.
If more than one candidate is successfully nominated, a poll must be conducted.
The campaign period starts on Nomination Day, immediately after the conclusion of the nomination proceedings. It will end at the start of what is called “Cooling-off Day” – which is the eve of Polling Day.
During this time, campaigning is prohibited so as to give voters time to reflect on issues raised during the election before going to the polls.
Voting is compulsory for Singaporeans aged 21 and above. If your name has been struck off the Register of Electors for not having voted in a previous election, you may apply via the Elections Department website to restore your name.
No restoration can be made once the Writ of Election has been issued.
If the election is contested, you will receive your poll card by post at your registered residential address, two to three working days after Nomination Day.
On Polling Day, you will need to take your poll card and NRIC to your designated station. You can cast your vote between 8am and 8pm on that day.
After polls close, the ballot boxes will be transported to the counting centres. The Returning Officer will announce the outcome of the poll after the count is completed.
The upcoming election will also feature new voting arrangements, following changes to the Singapore’s election laws that were passed in Parliament in March.
As part of a pilot involving around 25 to 30 nursing homes, polling stations will be set up on-site and mobile polling teams may be deployed to bring the ballot boxes and papers to voters who are bed-bound.
This comes after ELD said last May that it was collecting feedback from stakeholders including nursing home operators on introducing special voting arrangements to improve voting accessibility.
Meanwhile, eligible Singaporeans living overseas will be able to vote by post for the upcoming election.
Overseas Singaporeans who have registered for postal voting can log in to the ELD website the day after Nomination Day to print the postal ballot paper and return envelope if the election is contested.
The return envelopes containing postal ballot papers as well as boxes containing ballot papers cast at overseas polling stations will be transported back to Singapore for counting after Polling Day.
The envelopes and boxes must reach the custody of the Returning Officer in Singapore no later than 10 days after Polling Day.
If the number of overseas voters has no “material impact” on the election outcome, the Returning Office will declare the candidate who receives the highest number of votes to be elected, says ELD.
An example is if the total number of overseas votes is smaller than the difference between the number of local votes polled for the top two candidates.
However, if there is a material impact, the Returning Officer will announce the number of votes cast in Singapore in favour of each candidate and will defer the declaration of the candidate elected, until after the overseas votes are counted.