Excerpts from the Q & A

DR VIVIAN Balakrishnan tackled a range of topics during the question-and-answer session.

NOT APPROPRIATE

'I don't believe we have made any formal representations because he is not a citizen of our country.

I believe he's a citizen of China. So it would be inappropriate for us as the Singapore Government to have any formal representations on that score.'

ON WHETHER THE GOVERNMENT had made any formal representations to the Chinese government about Straits Times reporter Ching Cheong, who was jailed for five years last August for espionage

REALISTIC VIEW

'Let me say that we're realists. We have seen bloodshed on the streets in Singapore as recently as 1969 in the name of race, language and religion. We look in our neighbourhood and we see decapitations in the name of race, language and religion.

So our assessment, after looking at history and looking around us, is that these are faultlines.'

ON WHY THE GOVERNMENT continues to view race and religion as faultlines in Singapore

NO HIDING ONLINE

'The one thing that hasn't changed in the new media is that ultimately there is still a money trail and identity will always be unmasked.

So don't believe this fiction that there's a whole lot of anonymity out there which people can hide behind.

Any political movement or political leader worth his salt will sooner or later be unmasked and, therefore, can be dealt with or can be engaged on political terms.'

ON WHETHER BLOGGERS can pose a challenge

LET FACTS SPEAK

'On foreign policy, we do not believe in conducting negotiations through the press. So you will notice that the Singapore Government is usually conspicuous by its silence.

We believe in just putting out the facts, the bald facts and letting the facts speak for themselves.'

ON WHETHER SINGAPORE would, like the Malaysian, Indonesian and Thai governments do, use the media to send out messages on foreign policy

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Temasek eyes Tata's mobile towers

MUMBAI - TEMASEK Holdings and wireless tower operator Crown Castle International are in talks to buy close to 15 per cent of the mobile phone towers business of Tata Teleservices, the Hindustan Times said.

Tata Teleservices said on Thursday it was in talks with several firms about spinning off its mobile phone towers into a separate unit, part or all of which could then be sold.

The paper, quoting investment bank sources, said yesterday that negotiations were at an advanced stage, and added that industry analysts valued the tower business at up to US$1 billion (S$1.52 billion).

A Tata Teleservices spokesman declined to comment on the report, but said Temasek held nearly 10 per cent of the firm, which has more than 5,000 mobile phone towers.

Tata Teleservices, along with subsidiary Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra), has more than 15.5 million subscribers in India, the world's fastest-growing mobile market.

On Thursday, chief executive Darryl Green declined to name the firms that Tata Teleservices had talked to about spinning off the towers business, or its valuation.

Larger rival Reliance Communications has said it would spin off its towers business into a separate unit, and leading mobile services provider Bharti Airtel has said it would do the same.

Newspapers have indicated that American Tower, as well as private equity firms including Blackstone, Carlyle and Temasek, were interested in Reliance Communications' towers unit.

REUTERS

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Bumper pay rises for DBS' top bosses last year

DBS Bank bosses Jackson Tai and Frank Wong enjoyed bumper pay rises last year, with their total earnings exceeding $15 million - at least $1.5 million up on 2005.

Mr Tai, the chief executive, and Mr Wong, the chief operating officer, each earned between $7.5 million and $7.75 million during a year of record profits of $2.18 billion, according to the bank's annual report for 2006, out yesterday.

This compares with profits of $824 million in 2005, when a goodwill write-down hit the bottom line.

Mr Tai's 2006 base salary was at least $1.8 million, with bonuses making up 71 per cent of his total pay.

Mr Wong, who also heads DBS' Hong Kong unit, had a salary of at least $975,000, with bonuses comprising 81 per cent of his remuneration.

The plum pay packets were at least $1.5 million up on the 2005 performance year but below their 2004 earnings - the highest either man has received during their DBS careers.

Mr Tai received between $7.75 million and $8 million in 2004, while Mr Wong brought home between $7.25 million and $7.5 million.

The bank said yesterday that the latest report presents directors' pay 'in a more accurate manner' by taking better reflecting issues such as share options, which are issued in one year but often exercised in another.

This has meant restating pay figures for previous years.

Mr Tai's pay for 2005 was re-stated at between $5.75 million and $6 million, as the figure now excludes components such as share options that were issued in earlier years but vested in 2005.

The previous annual report had stated that he took home between $5.5 million and $5.75 million for the 2005 performance year.

Mr Wong's restated 2005 pay is $5.5 million to $5.75 million, down from the earlier stated figures of $6.75 million to $7 million.

The annual report also showed that 12 management personnel earned a combined $28 million last year.

DBS also proposed that the chairman's annual fees be raised by $20,000 to $105,000, while directors' fees would jump 40 per cent to $70,000. Shareholders will vote on the plan at the annual general meeting on April 4.

Staff costs last year rose 18 per cent to $1.24 billion, partly due to a tight labour market. These costs partly accounted for DBS' cost-to-income ratio of 44.3 per cent.

Asked about market rumours that he may leave the bank any time soon, Mr Tai said: 'I am sorry to disappoint you and, for the hundredth time, I have no contract with the bank.'



HIGH EARNERS

The bank's chief executive Mr Tai and chief operating officer Mr Wong each earned between $7.5 million and $7.75 million during a year of record profits of $2.18 billion.

Champions League

Today

AC Milan v Celtic

Arsenal v PSV Eindhoven

Bayern Munich v Real Madrid

Live, Ch24, tomorrow, 3.30am

Manchester United v Lille

Live, Ch23, tomorrow, 3.30am

Pressure from Abramovich for The Blues to win the Champions League

ASHLEY Cole believes Chelsea must concentrate on winning the Champions League, as their hopes of retaining the Premiership crown begin to fade.

There is a growing realisation that the title will almost certainly be won by Manchester United this season.

With Porto visiting Stamford Bridge today for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, Cole admits it is time to focus on Europe.

United maintained their nine-point lead over second-placed Chelsea with a crucial league win at Liverpool on Saturday.

Although the champions have a game in hand, Alex Ferguson's side are playing with enough resolve and desire to suggest they are ready to end their four-year wait for the title.

So, a progress to the Champions League quarter- finals is essential for Jose Mourinho and his players, if they are to meet the expectations of owner Roman Abramovich.

The Russian billionaire has made it clear he wants to see his club dominate in Europe, as well as in England.

Mourinho has already proven his ability to succeed in European competitions with Porto. He led them to the 2003 Uefa Cup and the 2004 Champions League before joining Chelsea.

However, he has yet to replicate that success with the Blues.

Chelsea's last triumph in one of the European competitions was in the now-defunct Cup-Winners' Cup in 1998.

If they can win Europe's elite club competition for the first time, the likely loss of the league title will be easily overlooked.

England left-back Cole said: 'The Champions League is more realistic than the league.

'We are nine points behind United and it will be an uphill struggle from now on. But we are in good stead for the next round of the Champions League.'

A 0-0 draw would be enough for Chelsea to go through on away goals against Porto, after the first leg ended 1-1.

Still, Mourinho will want his side to show they are capable of going all the way to the final in Athens.

Chelsea will be missing skipper John Terry. He remains on the sidelines, as he continues to recover from the head injury he suffered in the League Cup final against Arsenal.

However, Mourinho will be able to include Khalid Boulahrouz. The Dutch defender has returned after a dislocated shoulder.

The manager confirmed: 'John is not back for the Porto game. He is in medical hands. I would never ask him to play unless the doctors said he was okay.

'But Jon Obi Mikel and Khalid Boulahrouz are back, so we have a better situation.'

Porto are four points clear at the top of the Portuguese League, following a 4-0 victory over Naval and 5-0 win over Beira Mar.

Defender Jose Bosingwa is out of their line-up with a thigh strain, and is likely to be replaced by Uruguayan international Jorge Fucile.

Porto coach Jesualdo Ferreira will believe his team can cause an upset in London.

Their impressive display in the first leg two weeks ago proved they can compete with Chelsea.

Memories of Ricardo Quaresma and Helder Postiga causing problems for the Blues defence should ensure there is no complacency in Chelsea's ranks today.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Chelsea v FC Porto
Live, Ch24, tomorrow, 3.30am

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Boon to 100,000 on SBS buses daily

I REFER to the recent letters to the Forum on bus bays versus linear bus stops.

As a public bus-transport service provider, SBS Transit would like to share our views on this subject.

A survey done by us has shown that 9 per cent of journey time is spent on buses trying to exit bus bays. On the average, our buses run some 2.1 million passenger trips every day and this translates into unnecessary extended time spent on the road for commuters.

Therefore, we welcome the Land Transport Authority (LTA)'s initiative to try out linear bus stops at Jalan Eunos, which are likely to benefit some 100,000 commuters travelling along this stretch of road on our services daily.

Over the past few years, we have partnered LTA as well as the Traffic Police to run public- education programmes that encourage motorists to give way to buses exiting bus bays.

These efforts have included rewarding motorists who give way with petrol vouchers and other goodies like cameras.

On our own initiative, we have also placed 'Give Way to Buses' messages on the rear of some 100 buses, produced and distributed car decals as well as installed LED lights on the buses' rear exterior to provide a more visible signal of the drivers' intention to exit bus bays.

We will continue with our efforts and will organise another public-education campaign in the coming months.

Tammy Tan (Ms)
Director, Corporate Communications
SBS Transit Ltd

Fifa refuses to pay more for Owen's knee injury

LONDON - FIFA President Sepp Blatter has accused Newcastle of being greedy.

The Magpies seek a whopping £6.2 million (S$18.6 million) in compensation for Michael Owen's injury at last year's World Cup.

However, Blatter insisted there will be no increase to Fifa's final offer of £900,000.

He said: 'The English Football Association was not able to convince Newcastle it was a good deal.

'The deal is done. It's not fair on all the other injured players whose clubs have sought compensation.'

Owen ruptured his cruciate knee ligament in the opening minute of England's World Cup match against Sweden, and has not played since.

The lengthy argument over who bears financial responsibility for his injury has caused fears that clubs may refuse to release their stars for international football.

However, Blatter said: 'Governing bodies and associations are becoming scared of the big clubs, because of the big money.'

He insisted the primary responsibility for paying compensation, in cases such as Owen's, lay with the English FA and Newcastle's insurers.

Fifa had also set up its own compensation fund of £6.3 million for clubs with injured players.

But Blatter said the idea behind the fund was to help the likes of Angola or Ivory Coast, who are playing in the World Cup for the first time.

Agreeing to Newcastle's request would use up most of the fund for the 2006 Finals.

He said: 'Something is wrong if the requests are coming from clubs in the richest league in the world.

' If anybody has a responsibility here, it is the FA to the player they took to the World Cup.'

Newcastle are already receiving £50,000 per week from the FA's insurers towards Owen's wages.

The club argue they are entitled to a lump sum because they had to spend £10 million to buy Obafemi Martins as a replacement for Owen, who cost them £17 million from Real Madrid.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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