Author Topic: [Article] Geylang King's Midas touch  (Read 3914 times)

Offline zuoom

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[Article] Geylang King's Midas touch
« on: September 25, 2008, 03:56:54 AM »
Quote from: makapaaa;22327
So much sex in Sin city, but so few babies? It goes to show that Sporns love sex, but are forced to hate babies by the Familee's sucking efficiency! :eek:
 
Geylang King's Midas touch

Fragrance Group's chief, named S'pore's 24th richest man, hails from family with business smarts By Nur Dianah Suhaimi

(http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20080823/ST_IMAGES_NUFRAGRANCE-J5J.jpg)

Mr James Koh, currently worth $230 million, started out by helping in his family's jewellery business. -- ST FILE PHOTO

His Fragrance chain of budget hotels is a familiar sight in Geylang. But Mr James Koh Wee Meng, who last week made headlines with his debut 24th placing on Forbes magazine's list of the 40 richest Singaporeans, is less forthcoming about his personal life.
The 45-year-old, who has a net worth of $230 million and is chief of the public-listed Fragrance Group, repeatedly declined interview requests from The Sunday Times.
He even ruled out the possibility of an interview in the next few months.
Fragrance is a family-run property and hotel developer which was listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange in 2005.
It has built more than 50 properties, from budget hotels to terrace houses.
While little is known about the man, it is obvious that business acumen runs in the Koh family.
They are the same people behind the Lee Hwa jewellery business, which listed as Aspial Corp in 2006.
Mr Koh's younger brother, Mr Koh Wee Seng, is chief executive of Aspial Corp, the only public-listed jewellery company in Singapore.
The younger Mr Koh also declined to be interviewed.
It was in the family's Lee Hwa operations that the elder Mr Koh got his business training. In a 2001 interview with The Straits Times, the former Serangoon Secondary School student revealed that he was never interested in studies.
From the age of 14, he would help out at his father's jewellery shop on Circuit Road - then called Lee Hwa Goldsmiths and Jewellery - after school.
He worked his way up. By age 21, he had set up a factory above his father's shop to make gold ornaments for the shop, as well as for wholesale. Soon, he was running the family's jewellery stores and factory. But building houses, not jewellery, was his passion.
'I used to walk past construction sites and just stare at them. To construct a tall building from an empty plot of land is very satisfying,' he told The Straits Times in 2001.
In 1991, he got his first big break in property. He bought a 5,000 sq ft plot of land for $700,000 in Kembangan to build a bungalow and sold it for $1.8 million. He developed more landed properties and later moved on to apartment blocks.
In the 1990s, he saw the potential for budget hotels in Singapore to serve backpackers and young travellers.
In 1996, he built the first Fragrance Hotel in Geylang Lorong 20 and named it Ruby, a nod to the many years spent helping out with his family's jewellery business. Fragrance's next four hotels in Geylang were named Crystal, Emerald, Pearl and Sapphire.
Mr Koh was soon crowned Geylang King by the media for building 11 small-scale residential projects in the area between 1994 and 2004.
In 2005, the business went public on the Singapore Stock Exchange.
In February this year, Fragrance Group reported that for the 2007 financial year, its net profit had more than doubled from $14.8 million to $30.4 million. Its hotel sector contributed $23.63 million to the group's total consolidated turnover of $136.12 million.
Over the years, Mr Koh has been consistently upping his stake in the company. His direct interest in Fragrance now stands at 72.75 per cent.
His wife, Madam Lim Wan Looi, also holds a substantial stake in the company. They have a 17-year-old daughter.
If he has one indulgence, it has to be his love for vintage cars. In 2004, it was reported that he had two 1970-model Volkswagen Beetles, which he drove on Sundays, and a Bentley which ferried him around daily. ndianah@sph.com.sg ("ndianah@sph.com.sg")

via : http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread.php?t=2298

============

sounds like someone we know.   ;D

Offline zuoom

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Aspial Corp. Ltd.
« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2009, 08:44:35 AM »

http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?capId=7687514
Quote
Snapshot of Aspial Corp. Ltd. (ASPA)
OPEN
--
      
PREVIOUS CLOSE
$0.25
DAY HIGH
--
      
DAY LOW
--
52 WEEK HIGH
04/28/08 - $0.40
      
52 WEEK LOW
12/15/08 - $0.19
MARKET CAP
87.8M
      
AVERAGE VOLUME 3 mo
12.0K
DILUTED EPS TTM
$0.06
      
SHARES OUTSTANDING
351.3M
EX-DATE
02/5/09
      
P/E TTM
3.9x
DIVIDEND
$0.01
      
DIVIDEND YIELD
5.34%
K = Thousands  M = Millions  B = Billions
1 Year Price Performance of Aspial Corp. Ltd. (ASPA)
1 Day 5 Day 6 Month 1 Year 5 Year
ASPA Historical Stock Quote
ASPA Advanced Stock Chart
ASPA Details

Aspial Corporation Limited, an investment holding company, engages in the manufacture, sale, and retail of jewelry in Singapore. The company offers its products under the Aspial, Lee Hwa, Goldheart, and CITIGEMS brand names. It also involves in the development, sale, and rental of apartment units. The company is based in Singapore, Singapore. Aspial Corporation Limited is a subsidiary of MLHS Holdings Pte, Ltd.
www.aspial.com
ASPA Top Compensated Officers
People Page No compensation data is available at this time for the top officers at this company.

Executives, Board Directors
Key developments for Aspial Corp. Ltd. (ASPA)
Aspial Corp. Ltd. Reports Unaudited Earnings Results for the Year Ended December 31, 2008; Proposes Final Dividend for the Year 2008
02/20/2009

Aspial Corp. Ltd. reported unaudited earnings results for the year ended December 31, 2008. For the period, the company reported profit attributable to equity holders of the company was SGD 22,316,000 or 6.35 cents per diluted share on revenue of profit of SGD 282,199,000 compared to profit attributable to equity holders of the company was SGD 14,747,000 or 4.20 cents per diluted share on revenue of profit of SGD 197,385,000 and profit of for the year SGD 25,149,000 against a profit of SGD 14,304,000 reported for the last year. The company proposed a final cash dividend of 0.5 cents per ordinary share for the year 2008 compared to dividend of 0.67 cents per ordinary share in 2007.
Aspial Corp. Ltd. Announces Buy Back of 50,000 Ordinary Shares on December 15, 2008
12/16/2008

Aspial Corp. Ltd. announced buy back of 50,000 ordinary shares at SGD 0.21 each on December 15, 2008. Highest and Lowest price paid for each share purchased was SGD 0.21. Total consideration (including stamp duties, clearing charges, etc) paid or payable for the shares was SGD 10,561.52. Cumulative net outstanding treasury shares as at to-date were 4,404,000 units.
Aspial Corp. Ltd. Announces Buy Back of 100,000 Ordinary Shares on November 20, 2008
11/20/2008

Aspial Corp. Ltd. announced buy back of 100,000 ordinary shares at SGD 0.225 each on November 20, 2008. Highest and Lowest price paid for each share purchased was SGD 0.225. Total consideration (including stamp duties, clearing charges, etc) paid or payable for the shares was SGD 22,631.82. Cumulative net outstanding treasury shares as at to-date are 4,354,000 units.

Offline zuoom

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PASSION trumps recession in Japan.
« Reply #2 on: May 27, 2009, 07:43:14 AM »
Quote from: blackknight
PASSION trumps recession in Japan.

While big-time Japanese multi-national firms are bleeding red ink, Japan's love hotels are in the pink.

 
Japan's 25,000 love hotels are making money even as job losses climb in the country's worst post-war recession, reported Bloomberg.

'It's a recession-proof industry,' said Mr Steve Mansfield, chief executive officer at New Perspective, which helps manage six hotels owned by Japan Leisure Hotels. 'We've even made some rooms more profitable by putting up prices.'

A three-hour stay - euphemistically termed a 'rest' - costs around 3,000 yen (S$50), while an overnight 'stay' starts at around 10,000 yen, reported the Telegraph.

Usually found clustered in the back-streets of the traditional entertainment districts of big cities, love hotels initially catered to prostitutes and their clients.

But the industry boomed in the post-war era due to the shortage of accommodation and couples' privacy needs, reported the Telegraph.

There are an estimated 25,000 such establishments across the country today, many fitted out with state-of-the-art entertainment systems, karaoke facilities, whirlpool baths and room service.

Analysts put the annual turnover of the industry at more than 4 trillion yen and that 500 million visits to love hotels take place every year.

At some love hotels, customers choose their room from a display with pictures of the suites. There's no check-in form and you pay a cashier hidden behind a screen.

'It can feel embarrassing to take people back home and so love hotels are popular,' Mr Mitsuo Seki, a 32-year-old bartender in Tokyo, who visits love hotels three to four times a month, told Bloomberg.

'They have lots of extras as well that are entertaining.'

High-end hotels, however are not doing so well.

They have seen occupancy rates drop for three straight quarters.

'It's a tough environment,' said Mr Yutaka Maruyama, an executive vice president at hotel management company The Chartres Lodging Group Japan. 'Corporations are cutting down on functions and stays.'

via : http://subarulegacy.sg/viewtopic.php?t=12034&highlight=

==============

and as one quote "No job then start making babies.."

was joking with another friend of mine about this year would be baby making year. next year sure alot of babies come out.

o, for the hotel guy here... you experiencing this in your sector? if no answer means you super busy... then we know the answer liao.

Offline zuoom

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Love beats the recession in Japan
« Reply #3 on: July 15, 2009, 01:39:31 PM »
Quote
               Love beats the recession in Japan             
            
Japan's love hotels are doing brisk business, despite the economic downturn
          
By Roland Buerk                                                                           
BBC News, Tokyo                                                   
Japan's love hotels are attracting interest from more than just couples looking for a place to spend a few private hours.
Investors are also interested; this vast market seems to be proving more resilient to the recession than luxury business hotels.
There are about 25,000 love hotels in Japan which are visited an estimated 500 million times a year.
Clustered around train stations, they are doing a brisk business despite the worst recession in living memory.


People can check into the love hotels via touch screens
          
Flamboyantly designed and exotically named - Hotel For You, Sunpalace, Asian P-Door - they offer rooms by the hour, euphemistically marketed as a short rest or a longer stay.

Contact with staff is kept to a minimum. This is a business that runs on discretion.
Some have underground car parks and entrances, while others provide screens to shield visitors' number plates.
Plenty of customers are using love hotels to indulge in affairs or to meet prostitutes, although many are couples looking to escape the narrow confines of Japanese apartment living.

Crowded country
At many hotels the reception desk has been replaced by a touch screen of pictures of the rooms, brightly lit if available, dimmed out if already occupied.
Love hotels offer time alone in a crowded country where privacy is rare.
Yuichi Ito and Kyoko Shio are typical of Japanese in their twenties, still living with their parents.


Yuichi Ito and Kyoko Shio both still live with their parents
          
 "My family is my Dad and my Mom, and I have two younger brothers," says Yuichi Ito. "But we only have four rooms, so it is a very crowded house."

He adds that he and his girlfriend, who met while they were studying in the United States, visit love hotels to find somewhere to be alone.
Providing privacy is big business in Japan. The love hotel industry is huge, estimated to turn over about £25bn ($40bn) a year.
And hotel owners claim they have been barely touched by the recession.
"Of course some hotels did [suffer], but not love hotels," says Joichiro Mochizuki, an executive with a company which runs a number of love hotels, including the Asian P-Door in Tokyo.
"Not like city hotels, not like business hotels - for this love hotel we had a 3-4% drop but otherwise we have kept a 400% occupancy rate."
That means each room is, on average, used four times a day.
The sheer variety on offer for couples is huge. There are mock castles, perched by motorway intersections.
One love hotel is decorated on a theme that combines soft toys and bondage. In others, visitors can dress up as doctors and nurses.


The hotels cater for all, even fans of the film "Titanic"
          
Some rooms look like school classrooms or train carriages.
There's even a love hotel for fans of the film Titanic, shaped like a cruise liner with life-size statues of Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslett on the prow.
With 25,000 across Japan, there is one to suit every fantasy.

Seedy reputation
British businessman Steve Mansfield sees great potential in the industry which has traditionally been shunned by big Japanese corporations put off by its seedy reputation.
The rooms in his hotels are rather straightforward. He says he aims to create the ideal living area which people would have at home if money was no object.
There is a bed, of course, a flat screen television and a projector, a karaoke machine and an outdoor bathroom in the more expensive suites.
There are also payment machines by every door in case guests want to leave unseen.


Steve Mansfield is looking to invest in more love hotels
          
Mr Mansfield's company, Japan Leisure Hotels, listed on London's AIM market, already runs six hotels, and he would like many more.
"When we looked at it and saw the fragmentation - 90% of owners have five or fewer hotels - we thought this is interesting," he says. "Here is a massive industry that has no market leader and there is a great opportunity here for consolidation."
Steve Mansfield does not like the phrase love hotels. He prefers "leisure hotels", pointing out that what goes on in his premises happens in every other hotel in the world.
Whatever they are called, Japan's short stay hotels remain busy with customers.
The Japanese may have cut back on many things in the downturn - but not on a few hours to spend alone with a loved one.

via : http://singsupplies.com/showthread.php?t=32499

Offline zuoom

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Tougher rules for new hotels that offer hourly rates
« Reply #4 on: September 15, 2009, 12:22:19 PM »
Quote from: jq75;40284309
Sep 15, 2009
Tougher rules for new hotels that offer hourly rates
By Kor Kian Beng 
THE Government will come down hard on new hotels that rent rooms by the hour, as it tightens the rules for these places which are often seen as hotbeds of prostitution.

Newcomers applying for an operating licence have to justify why they are offering such rates. In addition, they have to install closed-circuit television systems, and hire guards to preserve the safety of their guests and look out for possible illegal activities.

Hoteliers with an eye on offering such rooms in residential areas will face an even harder time.

They are required 'to engage the community and respond to concerns of residents', said Mr S. Iswaran, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry, without elaborating.

He announced the new measures in Parliament yesterday.

When contacted, the Singapore Tourism Board's director of resource development, Ms Rebecca Lim, said the new rules take effect immediately but apply only to new hotels.

Existing hotels that rent rooms by the hour are exempted from these stricter measures when they renew their licences, which must be done every year.

The latest changes follow initial deterrent steps taken by the Hotels Licensing Board (HLB).

In January, it banned all hotels in Joo Chiat from offering hourly rates, in a bid to stop vice activities in the area well-known for its rich Peranakan heritage.

Residents there, as well as those in Duxton Road in Tanjong Pagar, have been complaining long and loud that such hotels often encouraged vice activities.

Their cause had been championed in Parliament by Mr Christopher de Souza (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC), who had continually urged the authorities to rein in prostitution to within the boundaries of the red-light areas in Geylang.

In yesterday's sitting, he wanted to know if there were plans to issue these hotels with special licences. He also asked for the number of hourly-rate hotels beyond Geylang and measures, if any, to curb them from mushrooming outside Geylang, especially in residential areas.

Hotels that rent rooms by the hour or for part of a day are also known as transit hotels, and they can be in business districts, at or near airports.
Mr Iswaran estimates that almost half of the 250 hotels here are transit hotels and they are not given a special licence.

The reason: Singapore adopts a pro-enterprise approach that gives hotels 'the flexibility to set their operating model, including their room pricing', he said.

It is a model adopted in major cities, such as Hong Kong, London and New York, he added.

Hence, the HLB does not track the number of transit hotels.

But he assured the House that the Board works closely with enforcement agencies to monitor the activities of hotels here.

He warned that hotels that are guilty of illegal activities can lose their licence.

Mr de Souza, when contacted, said he welcomed the stricter rules, which showed the Government was aware of the concerns that such hotels could lead to vice and other social problems.

'The new measures are a step in the right direction because now the authorities can vet the kind of activities that might occur at these places.'

He also urged residents to do their part: 'Now is the time for residents to be vigilant and voice their concerns.'

via : http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/showthread.php?t=2499489

Offline zuoom

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Geylang King
« Reply #5 on: September 18, 2009, 01:08:13 AM »
Quote
Twenty minutes from downtown Singapore's business district is bustling Geylang, home to its red-light district, low-rise buildings, foreign workers' quarters and some of the city's best cheap eateries. It is in this somewhat seedy neighborhood, largely ignored by big developers, that Koh Wee Meng has built at least 10 residential projects and six budget hotels in the last 16 years. Some deride the latter as "love hotels," but Koh, 46, shrugs it off. "You can't change the place."


Koh, who has a tanned complexion likely from long hours spent at construction sites, insists it is not the neighborhood but his decision to stick with small, affordable plots that distinguishes him from other developers. "I do a lot of small projects. I churn a lot of small plots of land. Here one plot, there one plot," explains Koh, speaking in a mix of English, Mandarin and Hokkien, a Chinese dialect.

That small focus has paid off big. Koh, 46, is worth $360 million, $130 million more than a year ago, enough to rank him No. 20 among Singapore's richest. Net profits of his Fragrance Group climbed 83% to $39 million on sales of $150 million in 2008. Earnings slipped 9% in the first half of the year because of lower selling prices but are up 11% in the second quarter. (Private residential prices in Singapore dropped 21% in the first quarter and 25% in the second.)

The stock has tripled since its March low, rallying along with a pick-up in housing demand and helped by a recent announcement by the Ministry of Finance that it won't levy a tax on individuals who sold more than one property within four years. As of June 2009, the company had $18 million in cash, up from $10 million in December 2008. Its total borrowings decreased $23 million to $124 million in that time.

It's not the glamorous end of real estate, but it is a "sweet spot," says Ng Wee Siang, head of research at BNP Paribas in Singapore. Fragrance's residential property business, which accounts for at least 80% of profits, specializes in low- to mid-rise buildings, usually with fewer than 100 units. The residences are typically pitched to some of the 2.8 million Singapore residents (of 3.5 million total) who live in Housing Development Board flats and are looking to upgrade. The 20 budget hotels have a similar strategy of being small and affordable, typically with 100 rooms or fewer priced at $60 a night. Despite the downturn, the hotels expect a boost from an influx of tourists coming to gamble at Singapore's first two mega-casino resorts opening next year.

The son of a jeweler and a primary-school teacher, Koh developed his passion for real estate during long walks back and forth to school past construction sites. Unlike his three siblings, Koh didn't make it to college and, after completing his national service, joined his father's struggling jewelry shop, Lee Hwa Goldsmiths&Jewelry. He soon mastered the craft of making and selling gold jewelry, like bangles and pendants, but was bored.

Koh gave real estate a try in 1992. He found a 5,000-square-foot plot of land in eastern Singapore for $490,000. He went to a bank for a loan but was told he didn't have the experience or education to be successful. He was eventually given a loan of $310,000 and paid for the rest with proceeds from selling his home the previous year, when he had moved in with his parents. He built a bungalow on the land and flipped it for $1.2 million within a year.

Encouraged, he took over his family's small investment firm and began buying land and buildings, mostly in Geylang. By 1996 he had built and sold 20 projects and decided to try budget hotels, taking advantage of favorable zoning laws in Geylang. He built three hotels, each with about 30 rooms. He sold off the first almost immediately but operated the other two. Koh soon realized his small hotels were inefficient, and he got rid of them, building two others, each with about 100 rooms. At first he named his hotels after precious stones, such as Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald, inspired by his days as a jeweler, but he soon ran out of gems. He started naming them all Fragrance, followed by their street locations.

The hotels temporarily diverted his attention from residential building, which turned out to be a stroke of luck. "We scaled back on our residential projects just before the [1997 Asian economic] crisis," he recalls. "We consider ourselves lucky." In early 1999, when prices were still soft, Fragrance re-focused on residential and bought seven parcels of land, this time throughout the city.

He has proved to be lucky, or smart, again in recent months. Fragrance sold a majority of its projects during the property boom of 2007 and early 2008 and held back on buying land for a while, leaving it with little excess inventory during the downturn. "Unlike other boutique developers, Fragrance exercised great discipline by not participating in the land-banking frenzy seen at the peak of the property cycle," says BNP Paribas' Ng Wee Siang. "[Koh is] very nimble and shrewd." Koh puts it this way: "Only buy and hold what you are able to afford.

Since the start of 2009, as prices fell, Fragrance has paid $141 million in cash and debt for 11 plots across the city. He plans to open three new hotels, possibly under a new brand, by 2011. One of the new hotels will be built on land Koh just bought for $11 million, outbidding his rival Regal Land, which owns the Hotel 81 budget chain.Prices will be capped at $70 a night, 15% above today's rates, but Koh will offer such amenities as a gym, sauna and library.

Koh is also looking for more opportunities. "I have the bullets ready as we're not overcommitted," he says. One place he won't go is overseas, saying the risks are too great in an unfamiliar market. "There are plenty of opportunities in Singapore," he insists. Plenty of competition, too. At least 15 of the nation's 40 richest make all or part of their money in real estate.

Even Koh's siblings are sometime rivals. His family's small jewelry business has become Aspial, Singapore's largest jewelry retailer with more than 50 stores, but it also has a property-development arm. Koh was on its board until Fragrance went public, and he still owns a small stake in Aspial, which had a recent market cap less than one-third of Fragrance's. The brothers declined to comment on each other's businesses and Koh says they don't discuss work.

Despite his rising fortune, Koh, who some say works "25 hours a day," insists his only indulgence is his Rolls-Royce. He has invested almost all of his time and earnings in Fragrance, buying more shares last October and in June. When asked if he has time for hobbies, Koh says: "I don't play golf. I don't swim. My interest is my business."
via : http://www.mycarforum.com/index.php?showtopic=2642796&pid=2872506&st=0&#entry2872506

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Re: [Article] Geylang King's Midas touch
« Reply #6 on: February 27, 2010, 09:34:44 AM »
[tags] Aspial

Offline zuoom

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World Cup breathes life back to Geylang
« Reply #7 on: June 28, 2010, 05:27:06 AM »
Quote from: MinMin;8239542
World Cup breathes life back to Geylang
Businesses bounce back from raid as football fever rubs off punters and gawkers alike. -TNP

(http://www.wc2010sph.premiumtv.co.uk/javaImages/a3/1f/0,,13042~8855459,00.jpg)

GEYLANG was in a bit of a slump.

The authorities had clamped down on illegal activities including vice and gambling.

On June 11, police ended an island-wide operation which also involved Geylang.

More than 160 people were arrested for vice-related activities.

Business in the infamous red-light district slowed to a crawl.

Then came the World Cup, which Geylang's businesses claimed has revived their fortunes.

Indeed, running the 5Cs in the area have benefited the most from the football fever, they said.

Cheap hotels

Business for these properties has picked up - whether they are the smaller Hotel 6 and Hotel Darlene or the bigger chains such as Fragrance Hotel and Hotel 81.

Mr Chu Poh Yong, the 42-year-old general manager of Hotel 81 chain, said: "Business has increased because guests in four of our 11 branches in Geylang can watch the World Cup on cable TV in their rooms."

But the scene at the other seven branches, also in Geylang but without World Cup extras, has been "normal".

Mr William Sim, 57, the executive director of the Fragrance Group, linked the influx of guests to CommunicAsia2010, a trade fair held at Singapore Expo from June 15 to 18.

"We have more customers because of the exhibition. (Tourists) may stay in our hotels at Geylang because the rates are lower here."

Budget hotels - which mostly offer a transit rate of $20 for two hours and a night's stay at about $70 - are not the only ones seeing a spike in business in Geylang.

Clubs

Clubs that screen the World Cup get more business than those that don't.

But No Name Karaoke at Lorong 27 went a step further to make sure that customers flocked to them.

The hostesses don jerseys of the international and English football teams, with short skirts and shorts to match.

Mr Stanley Chua, 39, the receptionist at the club, told The New Paper on Sunday that the club's 16 rooms offer live TV coverage of the World Cup.

He said that the set-up cost "a few thousands of dollars".

Jerseys for the 20 Chinese girls were sponsored by a beer company, he added.

Business has improved, he said. In the past, there were about 100 customers each night.

Now, there are about 10 per cent more, he said.

"Customers find the girls' uniform refreshing," said Mr Chua.

Three other nightclubs nearby said business has declined for them: That's right, none of them screen the World Cup.

Mr Pua Ah Huat, a counter staff at Paramount Music Lounge, said earnings have dropped by nearly 20 per cent since the tournament kicked off.

"The football fans won't come here. There's no screening," said Mr Pua, in his 40s.

Coffee shops

Screening the World Cup - or not - affects coffee shops too.

Takings have gone down at popular Eminent Frog Porridge, located at a Lorong 19 coffee shop.

Its owner, Mr Jeffery Lu, 33, reckons it's partly because the coffee shop doesn't screen the World Cup matches.

"In the past, we sold about 200 frogs daily. Now it has dropped by about 30 per cent.

"Our operating hours (5pm to 4am daily) clash with the timings of the matches," said Mr Lu.

Cafe 512, which screens the matches, said business is better now but declined to give numbers.

Supervisor Zhang Guo Xian, 25, said that customers must spend at least $8 on food and drinks to occupy the tables nearest to its three TV sets.

Call girls

The football matches kick off at 7.30pm, 10pm or 2.30am on most days till July 12.

Pimps make their move in between the matches.

The New Paper on Sunday witnessed a pimp offering his catalogue of 11 Thai women to customers at a coffee shop in Lorong 10.

It took him only a few minutes to snag a deal.

There were women walking the streets too.

Shasa, a 19-year-old from Malaysia, said four men approached her in four hours outside a coffee shop at Lorong 23 on Wednesday night.

The fair-skinned girl, who usually plies her trade in Chinatown, said: "I came to Geylang because of the World Cup."

Convenience stores

Three out of the four stores we approached in the area said that sales has spiked, thanks to the once-in-four-years event.

7-Eleven dominates the Geylang convenience store scene with 13 outlets.

Mr Mohd Noor, 25, who works in one of the outlets at Lorong 19, said that about 100 customers patronise the store from 7pm to 3am daily.

That's about 20 per cent more than before, he said.

"They are mainly here to buy beer and snacks. One guy on (Tuesday night) even spent more than $170 at one go. That's rare.

"In the past, we can take a breather on occasion, but there's no time for that now," he added.

But a 7-Eleven spokesman said that it's too soon to confirm the World Cup's impact on sales.

So what is it about Geylang?

"Geylang is the place to watch the world go by.

"Here, you can see the beautiful and the ugly. Nothing is pretentious," said Mr Tan, 60, a semi-retired businessman, who hangs out in coffee shops and KTV lounges there with his retiree friends.

Mr SP Tan, a customer in another coffee shop, put it more bluntly.

The 52-year-old salesman of used computers said that Geylang has all three of his favourite things:

"I'm here to watch football, drink beer and to look at women."

WC2010SPH | News | News Detail Local | World Cup breathes life back to Geylang
via : http://forums.vr-zone.com/newsroom/741516-news-world-cup-breathes-life-back-geylang.html

Offline zuoom

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Re: [Article] Geylang King's Midas touch
« Reply #8 on: August 31, 2010, 07:40:11 AM »
[tags] Geylang

==================

this is the place to be in, always.

red light district it is. but it's also usually the representation of the bigger place as a whole.

you find people from all walks of live, all kind of people, great food etc. 

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'No-frills' budget hotel takes policy to the extreme
« Reply #9 on: September 03, 2010, 03:02:07 AM »
'No-frills' budget hotel takes policy to the extreme
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11114802
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30 August 2010 Last updated at 01:57 GMT Help
A new budget hotel run like a no-frills airline has opened its doors in London.

The Tune hotel in Westminster takes the low-cost business model to the extreme. Unlike Easyhotel it even charges guests for using a towel.

If booked in advance, rooms can sell for as little as £9 on promotion, but typically start at £35.

The BBC's Susannah Streeter tested out the accommodation.

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Re: [Article] Geylang King's Midas touch
« Reply #10 on: January 27, 2011, 02:37:46 AM »
NIPT
http://www.ip-adress.com/ip_tracer/203.117.150.154
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203.117.150.154 IP address location & more:
IP address [?]:   203.117.150.154 [Whois] [Reverse IP]
IP country code:    SG
IP address country:       Singapore
IP address state:    n/a
IP address city:    Singapore
IP address latitude:    1.2931
IP address longitude:    103.8558
ISP of this IP [?]:    (previously known as CyberWay Pte Ltd)
Organization:    Singapura Finance Ltd
Host of this IP: [?]:    d117150154.ppp117150.cyberway.com.sg    [Whois] [Trace]

Offline zuoom

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Re: [Article] Geylang King's Midas touch
« Reply #11 on: January 27, 2012, 06:04:06 AM »
and Mr. Koh in the news regarding his RR.