Super Spyker C8 Laviolette 
by Tony Ng, Plush|30 May 2009
If there's a word to describe the Spyker C8 Laviolette, it's "raw."
The mid-engined coupe reeks of raw power, from inside out.
You could only imagine the amount of detail and effort that went into each car as the entire car, made of aluminium, is handcrafted using bespoke materials.
The C8's interior belies the aviation and racing heritage of Spyker, which begun in 1875. At one point in history, it was building fighter aircraft and engines.
At present, Spyker has established its presence in Singapore with the C8, available in both coupe (Laviolette) and convertible (Spyder).
The C8 recently demonstrated its prowess at the Changi Exhibition Centre in a Spyker demonstration organised by Auto Palace, a subsidiary of the Hong Seh Group.
You'll hear the C8 before you see it. Its roaring soundtrack is powered by an all-aluminum Audi V8 engine that produces 400bhp and 480Nm of pulling power at 3,500rpm. From a standstill, it only takes 4.5 secs to hit 100kph.
The engine is mated to a manual six-speed gearbox, driving the rear wheels with a limited slip differential and ABS. That's about all the intervening technology you're going to get between you, the C8 and the road. No traction control. No acronyms.
Like the silvery exposed shift, the driving experience seems to feel raw at the edges. The engine snarls like a caged circus beast fighting to get out.
But when you're sprinting along at over 230kph on Singapore roads, nothing else matters much anymore.
Turning up the dial on the customised luxury feel are a list of optionals: aluminium dashboard fascia, 19" Aeroblade wheels, quilted leather detailing for the cockpit and Chronoswiss dashboard instruments.
To complete the extravaganza, you can also order a five-piece Louis Vuitton luggage set - made exclusively for Spyker.
The company's slogan since 1914 is "Nulla tenaci invia est via: For the tenancious no road is impassable."
Personally, I think it means they'll take you right to the edge of the road.
SPYKER C8 LAVIOLETTE (COUPE)
Engine: 4,172cc, 40v Audi V8
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Power: 400bhp @ 6,500rpm
Torque: 480Nm @ 3,500rpm
0-100kmh: 4.5 secs
Top speed: 300kph
Fuel consumption: 11.1 litres/100km (city-highway)
Price: $1.05 million
Distributor: Auto Palace
Source: Asiaone
Super Spyker
on Saturday, May 30, 2009Visit Indonesia
on Thursday, May 28, 2009SEMARANG SURPRISES
Vendors and patrons at the Gang Baru Market in Semarang, Indonesia.
By Jovanda Biston
Freelance writer.
Semarang, my hometown, is not a familiar place to most people outside of Indonesia.
The provincial capital of Central Java, it is not chic and exotic like Bali and it does not have the princely patina of Yogyakarta.
What this unassuming city on the north coast of Java has is a rich history, laid-back charms and some of the best food in the country.
The most famous local snack is lumpia, a spring roll filled with fresh bamboo shoots, crabmeat, egg and shrimp.
There are many lumpia stalls in the city but one of the oldest and most popular is Lumpia Gang Lombok. The humble eatery's menu features only lumpia, which comes plain or deep-fried. The hefty rolls (each 11,000 rupiah or S$1.50) are served with pickled cucumbers, a dollop of thick garlicky sauce and fiery whole chillies.
This lumpia specialist is located around the corner from the 18th-century Tay Kak Sie temple in the historic Chinese district known as Pecinan.
Today, the district is a bustling business district where you will find the Gang Baru market. Among the many vendors with their baskets of fresh vegetables, buckets of fish and hooks of offal and meat, there is a good selection of breakfast fare.
Nasi Ayam dish from Semarang, Indonesia.
I usually find myself stopping at the vendor selling nasi ayam (3,500 rupiah), which means "chicken rice" but it is nothing like the Singaporean dish of the same name.
The Semarang version is rice topped with shredded chicken meat, spicy chayote squash, tofu, hard-boiled egg and doused in lip-smacking coconut gravy. The woman at Gang Baru serves her nasi ayam the traditional way in a banana leaf cone.
Even after wolfing down the nasi ayam, I am still tempted by other foods such as piping-hot serabi (a sweet and fluffy crepe-like snack), bakso (beef meatballs in clear broth) and a dizzying assortment of kueh-kueh.
When I have a craving for Semarang's most celebrated sweet treat, a coconut cake known as wingko babad (2,300 rupiah), I go to the Kereta Api bakery, which can barely meet the huge demand for its speciality.
The small bakery is located in Kota Lama (Old Town), the city's administrative centre during the Dutch colonial era, where you will find many 19th-century and Art Deco architectural gems. While many of these buildings are in a state of neglect, the area still makes for an atmospheric stroll.
Simpang Lima, the modern centre of Semarang, is not far from Kota Lama but it feels like a different world. It has large malls, movie theatres and smart hotels facing an always-busy roundabout.
Near the roundabout, roadside food shacks do a roaring business in the evenings selling nasi goreng ruwet (which literally means "messy fried rice" but it is actually fried rice mixed with noodles), nasi gandul (beef offal rice), charcoal-grilled chocolate and banana sandwiches, spicy grilled corn on the cob and my favourite rice dish, nasi gudeg.
Gudeg resembles meat in texture and appearance but it is made from shredded young jackfruit that is cooked with spices until it is pink and velvety. The gudeg is drizzled with thick savoury coconut cream and served with rice and other accompaniments. Those new to nasi gudeg (9,000 rupiah) usually eye it with apprehension, but after sampling it, they will scrape their plates clean.
After overindulging in the delectable local food, you may need to drink jamu for a quick health boost. These are herbal concoctions based on traditional Indonesian medicine. Several of Indonesia's largest jamu manufacturers such as Sido Muncul and Nyonya Meneer are based in Semarang. Visitors who want to learn more about jamu can join the free guided tours of the jamu factories.
Buy the concoctions from itinerant jamu women - a common sight in Semarang's residential neighbourhoods - or pop into one of the city's many jamu bars for a refreshing pick-me-up, beauty remedy or a blend to stave off a cold.
After a jolt of jamu, you should feel re-energised enough to sample more of Semarang's scrumptious surprises.
Getting there
Garuda Indonesia flies direct to Semarang daily from Singapore. A return ticket costs anywhere between $280 and $455.
Where to stay: A grand colonial building on a hill, Hotel Candi Baru has lots of character, even if its rooms have seen better days a long time ago. Air-conditioned standard rooms start from 150,000 rupiah. Call (62) 24-831-5272.
Hotel Ciputra is a modern high-rise property conveniently located in Simpang Lima, adjacent to a big shopping mall. Air-conditioned standard rooms start from 750,000 rupiah. Call 62-24-8449888.
4 things to do
1 Do visit Toko Oen, the city's oldest restaurant, for Dutch cookies and tea. Not much has changed in this restaurant since it first opened for business in 1936.
2 Do ask your becak driver to lower the canopy for an unobstructed view of your surroundings during the pedicab ride. A 15-minute ride costs about 20,000 rupiah unless there is more than one passenger.
3 Do buy tuberoses, one of the world's most expensive perfume ingredients, but in Semarang, you can buy 10 stalks for 15,000 rupiah.
4 Do check out Semawis, the weekend night market in Pecinan.
2 don'ts
1 Don't spit out the bones of the bandeng (milkfish). Semarang is well known for its delicious milkfish that is cooked until the bones are soft.
2 Don't forget to pay for the snacks you consume at a warung (food shack). These are placed on the tables for diners to nibble on while waiting for their order or to go with their meal.
By Cheryl Tan
LAKE CHANGES COLOUR
Dieng Plateau, Indonesia
A view of Dieng Plateau, a lofty highland plain in Central Java, Indonesia which boasts of volcanic craters, bubbling mud pools and mineral lakes.
Sitting about 2,000m above sea level, the lofty highland plain in Central Java is home to sloping mountainous landscapes with pockets of steaming volcanic craters, bubbling mud pools and mineral lakes.
And do not miss the Telaga Warna (Colour Lake), says Indonesian Embassy third secretary Hanung Nugraha. The sulphurous lake is reputed to have multiple colours which change to complement its surroundings.
Another lake here, Telaga Pengilon or Mirror Lake, is its complete opposite because of its crystal-clear surface.
Architecture buffs will also love Dieng for its many examples of Central Javanese architecture and design of temples from the 8th and 9th century.
If you prefer more comfortable accommodations, Mr Nugraha, 33, recommends that you stay in the country town of Wonosobo, where you can take day tours to Dieng. But there are budget hotels in the Dieng village if you do not want to commute.
From Wonosobo to Dieng, it takes about two hours by car. A word of warning, however: The roads can be pretty winding, so barf bags are advised for those prone to motion sickness.
Where to stay: Hotel Gunung Mas is one of the better hotels in the Dieng village. Rooms with hot water start from 100,000 rupiah (S$14).
Gallery Hotel Kresna in Wonosobo has modern amenities and air-conditioned rooms with attached bathrooms. Rates start from 385,000 rupiah.
Getting there: Take a 21/2-hour Singapore Airlines flight to Denpasar ($560), transfer on Garuda (2.04 million rupiah) to Yogyakarta. Next, take an hour-long bus ride (12,000 rupiah) to Magelang, followed by another two buses (12,000 rupiah) to Wonosobo and Dieng (7,000 rupiah).
Pay: About $1,007 a person
Source: Asiaone
SURVIVOR SHOT HERE THREE TIMES
Caramoan Peninsula, Philippine
A view of the Caramoan Peninsula, located in the Philippines
The south-eastern islands of the Caramoan Peninsula, 318km from Manila, is so gorgeous that it has been chosen thrice as the location for the French, Israeli and Bulgarian versions of the reality television show Survivor.
Mr Roger Reyes, owner of Villa Juliana Inn at Caramoan, says: "The natural rock formations are beautiful. Caramoan is a unique place."
He adds that the waters are clear blue, and the sand pristine-white because it has been "cleaned by the ocean".
But the 65-year-old Caramoan native says tourism on the island is still in its infancy.
So if you are interested in snorkelling and diving, bring your own gear as rental of such equipment is currently not available. However, there are boats to take you to explore the islands in the peninsula.
Matukad Island is full of sharp and layered rock formations while the mysterious Tayak Island has a lagoon that sits smack in the middle of the island.
If you plan to visit Caramoan Town to view the potentially active Mount Isarog, bear in mind that shops close at 5pm.
Where to stay: Villa Juliana Inn, which offers air-conditioned rooms with mountain views (from 750 pesos or $23 a person). Television and private showers are available. La Casa Roa Hostel has homey rooms with air-conditioning (from 700 pesos) and good food.
Getting there: Singapore Airlines flies direct ($440) to Manila, where you take a Philippine Airlines domestic transfer (from $76.50) to Naga City. At Naga City Central Bus Terminal, take a 11/2-hour van shuttle (75 pesos) or two-hour jeepney ride (60 pesos) to Sabang port. Finally, a two-hour boat ride (100 pesos) will take you to Guijalo port at Caramoan.
Pay: About $590.50 a person
Palawan, Philippines
Sunken wrecks of warships and merchant vessels which date back to World War II line the seabed, making this destination popular with avid divers.
The lush mountainous and coral- fringed islands are located 586km southwest from Manila.
Puerto Princesa City is the capital of Palawan but the beautiful northern Palawan island of El Nido is more popular, says Philippines Tourism Board marketing officer Pauline Lazaro.
The 48-year-old says El Nido has caves to explore and rock cliffs to see. In the waters, travellers can go kayaking and diving to see dugongs.
Nearby islands in the Bacuit Archipelago are home to a cluster of fishermen and several restaurants offering cheap and good seafood.
Where to stay: El Nido Lagen Island has luxurious water cottages on stilts. Rates start from 14,000 pesos a person, twin share.
Dolarog Beach Resort has cottages with prices starting from 3,200 pesos a person, twin share. Rooms have great views of the Bacuit archipelago.
Getting there: Take a Singapore Airlines flight to Manila followed by a 11/2-hour Island Transvoyager (ITI) seaplane (7,600 pesos, one way) to El Nido Lio Airport.
Pay: About $967 a person
By Cheryl Tan
Asiaone
Manila store offers fix for bagaholics on a budget
by Michaela Cabrera, Reuters|28 May 2009
Manila, Phillipines: Handbag lovers addicted to Louis Vuitton and Prada, but on a budget because of the financial crisis, are indulging their cravings at a Manila store that buys and sells used, authentic designer totes.
In the Philippine capital, the cash registers of luxury goods stores are still ringing, thanks to the super-rich who appear immune to the economic downturn.
But business is also booming at Bagaholic, located at the New World Hotel in Manila's financial district, whose range spans everything from Louis Vuitton Monogram Denims and Balenciaga Motorcycles to Chanel Bowlers and Gucci Hobos.
"Women in general, especially Asian women are very crazy over high-end designer bags, and I am one of them. So it actually solves my problem. I don't have to buy bags anymore, I can use what I have here," owner Gigi Asok Bambroffe told Reuters.
Several websites offer used designer clothes and accessories, but one-year-old Bagaholic allows customers to try on their purchases before committing to them. And unlike designer stores which often have a fixed-price policy, you can bargain.
Depending on the bag's quality and popularity, Bambroffe sells them for a discount of about 30 to 70 percent of the brand-new item's price.
A used classic Hermes Birkin, which sells new for half a million pesos ($15,322), can be bought for less than 60,000 pesos at the store. A Louis Vuitton Speedy, the store's bestseller, goes for as low as 15,000 pesos, compared to its original price of around 40,000 pesos.
"The price is definitely to die for, because instead of just buying one purse, now I can buy three purses, and instead of just being stuck with one color, now I can actually do more colors," said businesswoman Danielle Parker, who has recently taken to buying more used bags than new ones.
With the help of books and her own experience, Bambroffe has developed a keen eye for spotting genuine items from fakes and says only one out of nine sellers would offer a copy.
Most of Bambroffe's loyal customers are professionals and women with rich husbands. Some want to get rid of last season's "it" bag to buy a new one, while others don't mind being slightly unfashionable and buying an older model.
She said she was surprised at the number of Filipino women willing to buy used goods. And the designer boutiques in Manila don't seem to see her store as competition, sometimes even sending clients over.
"Vuitton actually sent them here to sell their stuff, and they go straight to Vuitton and buy a new one, so I think I'm helping them more than I'm affecting them sales-wise," Bambroffe said, referring to some of her customers.
And the bag addiction can start early, with one of Bambroffe's customers, 16-year-old Sham Kawit, buying four bags in one excursion.
"The quality is okay, they look brand-new for 10,000 pesos. It's a practical choice, right?," Kawit said.
Source: plushasia.com
Toshiba NB200 Mini Notebook 
By Irene Tham
THE solid build - so unlike the plastic feel of most netbooks of this price - is the first thing you notice about this Toshiba baby.
The glossy 10-inch LED display is one of the sharpest and produces the most vivid colours I have ever seen.
Though the default resolution is 1,024 x 600 pixels, you can bump up the numbers to 1,600 x 1,200 pixels.
If you do, the bigger screen will mean a lot more left-right and up-down scrolling.
Another plus is the generous touchpad - the same size as that on a laptop - for comfortable Web surfing and navigation.
One unique feature of the NB200 is that it comes with a sleep-and-charge USB 2.0 port that allows you to juice up your phones even when the netbook is turned off.
There are two other regular USB ports.
Its raised, tiled keyboard can be a plus or minus, depending on whether you like a strong or weak tactile key response.
I like keys that go click-clack.
To my disappointment, the keys are neither noisy nor tactile: I found myself pounding them rather strenuously.
Their comfortable large size (1.5cm x 1.2cm) hardly compensates for the uninspiring key response.
When fully opened, the NB200 tilts at 45 degrees like most netbooks.
But I expect a company as design-conscious as Toshiba to do better on screen tilt.
The netbook is extremely quiet.
It comes with a hard disk shock protection software that quickly turns off your hard drive if it suffered serious knocks to avoid damaging the disk.
Its three-cell lithium ion battery is able to last up to four hours on paper.
Based on Digital Life's experience with netbooks with batteries of 2,310 milliampere-hour, they usually last up to three hours only.
Other features are run-of-the-mill: Intel Atom N280 processor, Windows XP operating system, 1GB memory which can be upgraded to 2GB, 160GB storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and two-in-one media slot.
Other colours - white, indigo and pink - are available from the end of next month.
Final say
Its good build quality and vivid display are worth every dollar, if you do not mind the weak key response.
This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.
Asiaone
Supercharge your mouse 
MOST users never unlock the full potential of the humble mouse.
For most folk, usage is confined to using no more than the two buttons and scroll wheel to do the left click, right click, scroll up and scroll down.
For Microsoft mice (and that of some other top brands), installing the software driver on the product website will open a world of possibilities.
You will find that you can assign nearly every imaginable function to specific keys.
For example, you can set your right mouse button to copy text, zoom into a document or even activate a particular program.
Contributed by Microsoft
This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.
Source: Asiaone
Visit Thailand
on Wednesday, May 27, 2009HEAD FOR THE COUNTRYSIDE
Isan, Thailand
A temple in Isan
Skip the congested city of Bangkok. Head north-east to the soothing rural countryside of Isan.
RealHome XP Travel, a travel agency that specialises in unconventional tours, has put together a five-day, four-night tour to the area.
"A large part of the tour is in natural surroundings," says its director, Mr Fred Seow, who went on a test run of the package with his family last month. He says that the trip gave his two children an opportunity to visit mushroom farms, vineyards and a dairy farm.
For sightseeing, there is Phanom Ruang, one of Thailand's oldest temples. The big white marble statue of Buddha at the lower ridges of the Khao Yai mountains is not to be missed too.
For authentic Thai food, there are stops where you can try pork or beef ball noodle soup at a village stall.
Accommodation on the tour starts with a one-night stay at the Supalai Pasak Resort & Spa, followed by a village homestay for the rest of your trip.
Getting there: Take a two hour and 25 minute Singapore Airlines flight to Bangkok ($340), followed by a 21/2-hour bus ride (price unavailable) to Isan.
Where to stay: Supalai Pasak Resort & Spa (from $90) and village homestay (price unavailable)
Cost: About $839 a person
Price includes air ticket and tour package price (from $499, twin-share). For bookings, go to www.realhomexp.com to book under Package TH 002, call 6503-1338 or e-mail custsvs@realhomexp.com
Kanchanaburi, Thailand
A group of people kayaking along the floating karaoke barges in Kanchanaburi in Thailand.
Home of the famous World War II Death Railway Bridge, the province gives visitors a rich lesson in history.
The Thailand-Burma Railway Centre (100 baht or S$4) and Death War museum (30 baht) tell stories of life during the war. The Hellfire Pass Memorial (admission by donation) offers walking trails along the original railbed.
If you go in the last week of November or the first week of December, there will be a burst of light and sound as the locals stage a show to commemorate the Allied attack on the bridge in 1945. Book early as it draws many visitors.
Hotel receptionist San Saneec, 29, says the historical River Kwai bridge is the best part of the central Thai province, which is 128km west of Bangkok.
"The beautiful old bridge," she says, "holds a lot of memories in Thai history."
For activities, she recommends elephant trekking, bamboo rafting, kayaking and visiting the waterfalls. But her favourite pastime is karaoke for Kanchanaburi is known for its floating karaoke barges that ply the river.
Getting there: Catch a Singapore Airlines flight to Bangkok, followed by an hour's taxi ride to the Southern Bus Terminal. Book a two-hour bus journey to Kanchanaburi (95 baht, one way).
Where to stay: River Kwai Hotel in the heart of the city has rooms (from 1,100 baht) with air-conditioning and free Internet access. Inchantree Resort has Balinese-style rooms (from 811 baht) with open-air private showers.
Cost: About $395 a person
By Cheryl Tan
Asiaone.com
This article was first published in The Straits Times.
iPhone killers, anyone? 
By Christopher Lim
Asiaone.com
IF you're in the market for an Apple iPhone, the odds are you won't be swayed by clones that offer you lots of features the iPhone doesn't have - but don't boast enough of the features it does have. You want it all. You want something that does everything an iPhone does but does it better, and with some extra abilities sprinkled on top to sweeten the deal. What you probably don't need is a fantastic camera or weapons-grade corporate e-mail ability.
If that sounds like you, you might want to give the new HTC Magic ($1,048 without plan from next month on) a spin.
Great value
LG's Arena ($768 without contract) is amazing value for money considering what you get for the price. Its rounded matte metal back makes it look like a smaller version of the old iPhone, which means it looks very pretty. However, it packs a 5-megapixel camera with a flash, which is unusually impressive among stylishly designed phones. It's also better than the cameras in the current iPhone and HTC Magic.
The Arena is the first phone to have Dolby Mobile surround sound built in, for a more immersive cinematic experience while on the go. All the better for insulating yourself in crowded MRT trains. It also has more potential storage memory than the Magic and the iPhone, with 8GB built in and the ability to expand up to 24GB.
For bedroom DJs
The Arena's Dolby surround sound might be good for movies, but dance-music fans will drool instead over Samsung's BeatDJ ($648 without contract), which was clearly created for the bedroom DJ.
You can manipulate songs to simulate the scratching sounds popular in dance music, and even layer sound effects and your voice on top of what's playing.
Samsung's close relationship with Bang & Olufsen has yielded yet another Samsung phone with excellent sound quality, which will please music lovers whether they are listening through earphones or the built-in stereo speakers.
Just don't count on doing hardcore Web surfing on the Web DJ because while the 2.8-inch screen isn't exactly tiny, it's smaller than the LG Arena's and HTC Magic's three-inch and 3.2-inch screens, respectively.
Slick Android
Sony Ericsson and BlackBerry set themselves apart from Apple by specialising in areas like digital photography and e-mail efficiency respectively, but HTC was the first, to truly go toe to toe with Apple on the exact same playing field. What was HTC's secret weapon? Google. The Magic is HTC's second phone to use Google's snazzy Android operating system. In fact, it's the second Android phone publicly released by any manufacturer, although plenty more are expected to be announced in the coming months. Android phones are the closest competitors to iPhones on the market. The very first one, the HTC Dream, was functional but ugly as sin. It also used an older version of the Android software, which lagged the iPhone in many ways.
The new version that comes as the Magic, however, is a whole different story. Until the new iPhone 3.0 software is released sometime in the middle of the year, the Magic is noticeably better in many ways than the current iPhone. You can copy and paste text like a phone number from the Web browser into your address book, take videos and upload pictures straight to Google's free Picasa Web photo albums - none of which the iPhone can do. Many other phones can perform these tasks, of course. But the Magic is the only one that works as slickly as the iPhone. For example, it passes the flick-scrolling test: When you open the address book and flick your finger to scroll the list, nothing is accidentally selected. Of course, if you're not looking for something that closely replicates an iPhone, there are plenty of new options.
This story was first published in The Business Times.
Dubai's 7-star hotel escapes crisis discounting 
by AFP|28 May 2009
Florianpolis, Brazil — Dubai's Burj Al Arab Hotel - billed as the first seven-star hotel in the world -- has escaped a room-discounting move by owner the Jumeirah Group to shore up demand during the global downturn.
As a result, occupancy in the imposing 321-meter (1,053-foot) high building is "less than last year but within our expectations," Jumeirah chief executive Gerald Lawless told AFP Saturday on the sidelines of a world tourism conference in Brazil.
He declined to give occupancy rates.
But he said for the rest of Jumeirah's properties, steep price cuts were being offered to maintain demand.
"At the end of November, bookings were slowing down, so we started offering healthy discounts up to 30 percent for our source markets in the UK, Germany and Russia to stimulate demand," he said.
Despite the crisis, the group was maintaining client numbers from those three key markets, he said, though he noted that reservations were increasingly coming later in a bid to secure cheaper prices.
He said: "The luxury sector is certainly resilient to the crisis but this is also motivated by promotions and prices."
Two of the group's properties in Dubai, the Jumeirah Beach Hotel and the Madinat Jumeirah, are keeping occupancy high, with 90 to 95 percent of the rooms filled between February and April at an average price of 570 dollars per night, Lawless said.
The group, which owns 11 hotels, in Dubai, Britain and the United States, plans to forge on with ambitious expansion plans that will see it running 60 properties by 2012.
"Despite the global economic downturn we maintain our objectives," Lawless said.
Jumeirah, part of Dubai Holdings owned by the ruling family of the Gulf emirate, intends to open its first Asian hotel in Shanghai this year, and has just signed a contract to open a hotel in Frankfurt, Germany.
Lawless would not give company forecasts for 2009, but said there was "close to double digit growth in 2008."
Several other international hotel groups have suspended their projects in Dubai after seeing its economy stall over recent months.
The real estate market has imploded but tourists -- for now -- appear to still be going, with hotels recording a five percent increase in check-ins in the first three months of this year.
Source: plushasia.com
Manicure
on Tuesday, May 26, 2009Reaching out to manicured millionaires 
by Siow Li Sen, The Business Times|27 April 2009
Wealthy women from Singapore are being outnumbered in their own backyard by their well-heeled sisters from Indonesia. Singapore has some 16,000 women millionaires worth an average of US$4.2 million, a survey by private bank RBS Coutts has found.
These Singaporeans own a combined US$71 billion, and represent a huge potential market for the private banking industry in Asia.
If that is impressive, then cast an eye on the bankable and wealthy Indonesian women in Singapore. They number 20,000 and hold in their manicured hands some US$93 billion - an average of more than US$4.6 million each. That makes them more numerous and somewhat richer than their Singaporean counterparts.
This survey, perhaps the first on high net worth women, does not take into account the property they own.
The annual World Wealth Report, released by Merrill Lynch and research firm Capgemini, said that in 2007, Singapore had 77,000 millionaires - defined as those with more than US$1 million - making up 1.7 per cent of the population here.
The RBS Coutts survey in 2008 also found that Hong Kong has 37,094 wealthy women with an average net worth of US$4.4 million, representing a total of US$152 billion. But they, too, have been outshone at home, as Hong Kong also has an estimated 120,000 bankable high net worth women from China.
Both Hong Kong and Singapore have the largest concentrations of wealthy non-resident Indian women in the Asia-Pacific region, the survey found.
Women generally trade less than men and are more risk averse, and so would have lost less money in the current global financial crisis.
'Yes, they've lost less money,' said Esther Heer, RBS Coutts head of private banking, North Asia.
The bulk of their wealth is still kept as deposits in banks, she told BT yesterday.
'My personal experience is that women are not so keen to leverage their portfolios, not so keen to trade, happy to buy a stock and keep it for the medium to long term and they're more geared towards income products,' said Ms Heer.
'They are keen on property, especially those with children,' she added.
The survey found that Singapore women millionaires have only 23 per cent of their money with private banks. In Hong Kong, it's slightly higher at 26 per cent.
According to Synovate, an international research house which conducted the survey, wealthy women fall into four categories. One is single professional women who are very focused on money with little time for other activities. They are savvy investors and Ms Heer said that quite a number of them went to work after graduation, and after a few years easily earn US$500,000 a year.
The next category is professional women married with kids. They are more visible at their workplace and have to balance both career and family but career is the priority. Their attitude to money is to get as much as possible.
Another group consists of married women with kids who may or may not work and family is their top priority. They like to invest their own money.
The final category is married women whose children are grown up and their attitude towards life and money is to enjoy both as much as possible.
When it comes to investments, Ms Heer noted, women are sharper than men.
'Women are not as gullible as men, they want more details and want to know more.'
There are also women who are divorced or recently widowed who sometimes feel very intimidated and private bankers need to understand this, she said.
RBS Coutts has begun training a dedicated group of private bankers to better understand and serve women clients.
The bank, which yesterday launched a new private banking initiative aimed specifically at high net worth Asian women, has in all 150 private bankers in the region.
'The women-specific approach broke new ground in the UK when it was launched several years ago; and continues to be very successful. We aim to deliver an equally tailored and effective proposition to women in Asia,' said Ms Heer.
This article was first published in The Business Times.
Source: Asiaone