Donald Trump Escalating War With Iran- Oil Prices Surge Again.

Hi Folks, welcome back to Investment Income for Life. Donald Trump has once again stirred up lots of "sheep". Geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have intensified sharply following direct military exchanges between United States forces and Iranian elements.  Even Saudi Arabia oil facilities are being hit more frequently this week. My SREITs portfolio dropped again from the interest rate hike risk and US-Iran forever war- only consolation is my diversification into other sectors and asset-classes (bonds, gold and Crypto) over the past 2 years has bring down the concentration to around 50%.   

1. U.S. Military Action and Retaliatory Strikes

The latest cycle of hostilities escalated after U.S. military forces conducted coordinated precision strikes against Iranian naval and strategic assets—specifically targeting vessels and supply infrastructure linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) following attacks on American naval operations. Tehran responded rapidly by launching asymmetric retaliatory strikes, deploying ballistic missiles and loitering munitions aimed at U.S. operating assets and maritime transit lanes in and around the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.

2. Strikes on Saudi Arabian Energy Infrastructure

Compounding the military theater, retaliatory strikes extended to Saudi Arabian sovereign territory. Drone and missile barrages linked to Tehran-aligned networks targeted critical Saudi Aramco downstream facilities in southern Saudi Arabia, notably across the Jizan industrial corridor.   The strikes ignited localized fires, forced temporary operational suspensions to assess integrity, and reignited deep structural concerns over the vulnerability of primary crude processing hubs across the Arabian Peninsula.

3. Oil Price Dynamics: Past Week Trading Range

Crude benchmarks registered sharp volatility over the past week as markets priced in a substantial geopolitical risk premium alongside physical supply friction.

• Brent Crude: Traded in a volatile 7-day range between US$89.50 and US$ 99.25 per barrel, surging nearly 8% week-on-week and testing resistance just shy of the triple-digit threshold (U$100/bbl).

The sudden uptick reflects market alarm that tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz—which historically handles roughly 20% of global petroleum liquids—could face prolonged paralysis, depleting already thin commercial stockpiles outside of East Asia.

4. Portfolio & Income Implications

For income-focused investors like myself, high oil prices and rising cost of business will be extremely bad for business and dividends payout. Maintaining defensive, balance-sheet-resilient dividend payers with strong ultimate shareholder backing (such as Temasek Holdings linked companies) is important.  

Ok folks, that's all from me today. Have a great week ahead!

Beware of the Nanning Pyramid Scam- More Prevalent Than You Think in Singapore.

Hi folks, good day to all. The notorious Nanning Pyramid scam that generated much media interest recently is actually quite prevalent in Singapore for at least 8-10 years already. So I was surprised our local media only got wind of it now. I have neighbours in my estate area that have on various occasion, asked me to fly down with them to take a look at the "business opportunity" there in Nanning. The neighbours will be very mysterious and you will not be able to find out much information until you are at Southern China itself. All they tell you is this is something that the China Government is offering overseas Chinese opportunities to get rich by investing in the development of Nanning. Something like an incentive to pull back overseas Chinese back into China and to reward those who are willing to pump in money for the development of China. This is actually nothing but a Ponzi scheme....there is no actual development asset or products being invested. The S$30K to S$50K special investment club membership is used to line the pockets of all the uplines. For you to make money, you will need to go around bringing in more fresh meat into the club.

1. Why So Many People Got Scammed?

The main problem is that many respectable and smart people are already in it and marketing it vigorously. For example, one of my neighbours is an astute businessman and another one I recalled is an ex-police force officer. They kept showing off on the luxurious hotels they get to stay while in Southern China as well as the exorbitant delicious breakfast, lunch and dinner offered to them daily. So if, many of these smart folks are already in it, you would think that this investment scheme is legitimate.

2. Why Hard For Our Local Authorities To Stop It?

I guess the main problem is that this investment scheme actually happened only when you fly over to Southern China where the local head office scammers will start their pressurised sales pitch to influence you to sign it. This thus does not take place in Singapore. 

Additionally, the neighbours or friends who sold you the product are also victims themselves (just that they do not know it) and they really did receive commission by bringing in people to the investment club hence they will state that they thought this "investment" is working well. 

Parting Thoughts

I cannot be bothered to fly down to Southern China to enjoy the sumptuous meals and luxurious hotel stay albeit the persistent marketing by my neighbours. Where got free lunch in this world and also China rewarding overseas Chinese of foreign countries with business opportunities? So Folks, please be very careful when your neighbours and best friends approached you to fly down to Nanning or other Chinese Cities to take part in special investment schemes curated by China authorities to help overseas Chinese. This is really BS.....you might just get arrested and thrown into prison by the Chinese Police like what happened to the 52 Singaporeans in Guangxi Province being arrested and now languishing in Chinese prison since July 2026.

Keppel DC REIT Management Screwed Existing Unit-Holders again With Private Placement.

Hi Folks, welcome back to Investment Income for Life. While the media and many folks are heaping praises at Keppel DC REIT ("KDC") latest announcement on 2 new acquisition of modern hyperscale type data centres in Tokyo on September 1, 2026 for S$1.5 billion, I was extremely disappointed that the senior management of KDC has once again chosen the private placement route instead of conducting a rights issue to raise funds among existing unit-holders. This leads to instant dilution of existing unit-holders. There is also the issue of a lack of basic respect for loyal unit-holders. 

1. Quick Recap
On 1 September 2026, Keppel DC REIT announced that it will acquire an 88.62% effective interest in two freehold hyperscale data centres in Inzai, Greater Tokyo. Keppel itself will hold another 1.38%, with the existing operator retaining 10%. The total transaction value is about ¥190 billion (~US$1.2 billion / S$1.5 billion).

The interesting part is that the assets are:

• Fully occupied

• Leased to four investment-grade customers

• Three of those customers are new to Keppel DC REIT

• Expected to be immediately DPU-accretive

• Expected to increase Japan's contribution to portfolio rental income from about 9% → 23%

• Singapore will still account for roughly 60% of rental income.

Keppel says that, on a pro-forma FY2025 basis, the acquisition would have increased DPU from 10.381¢ to 10.649¢, or approximately +2.6%.
 
2. Substantial Equity Fund Raising
To help fund the acquisition, Keppel DC REIT launched a private placement initially targeting at least S$600 million.

Eventually, the placement was subsequently upsized to S$625 million because of strong demand. The new units were priced around S$2.096–S$2.142, so existing unitholders face some dilution, although the acquisition is expected to more than compensate through DPU accretion of 2.6%.

Parting Thoughts
The final issuance price for the private placement is priced at S$2.10 per unit. Based on the market trading price of S$2.23 as of noon of September 7, 2026, this represented a discount of +5.8% to market price which is equivalent to more than one year of dividends given out by KDC for its unit-holders. This is certainly very unfair treatment on existing unit-holders by the senior management of KDC. 

The only consolation is that as per the usual practice before any additional equity placement, an estimated dividend of S$0.02261 per unit from July 1, 2026 to September 9, 2026 was declared for early payment. Ex-date of dividends is on September 9, 2026 and payment date on November 23, 2026.

Ok folks, that's all from me today....bye for now. Time for me to drink more cooling herbal tea.....

Surprise Windfall for Singaporeans Post National Day Rally And Recap of Mah Bow Tan Refusal To Raise Income Ceiling Limit for HDB.

Wow, freebies literally rained down during the 2026 National Day Rally on 23 August 2026 by our Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. Baby bonus will be increased and in addition, child aged 1-16 years old will get S$2K per year per child credited to the parents' bank accounts. An extra S$10K will also be given to top up the Post Secondary Education Account (PSEA) for a child at age 17 years old. Interestingly, the eligibility for a new BTO HDB flat got increase again from S$14K combined income to S$16K combine income. This reminds me of Mah Bow Tan who had stubbornly refused to increase the decades of S$8K combined income ceiling limit to help young Singaporeans who had went past this unfair limit. I was a victim of his housing policy then. So were my friends who had a hard time balloting for new BTO under him. 

1. Mah Bow Tan- The Minister Who Refused To Increase the Combined Income Ceiling Limit of S$8K that has been there for 17 years despite annual inflation.

The S$8,000 monthly household income ceiling for new HDB flats remained unchanged for 17 years. This is absurd considering salaries of the people have increased and also effects of inflation.

• Introduced: December 1994 (raised from S$7,000).

• Revised: August 2011 (raised to S$10,000). 

2. Key Justifications Used Under Mah Bow Tan
During his tenure as Minister for National Development (1999–2011), Mah Bow Tan defended maintaining the S$8,000 cap during parliamentary debates and media briefings using several core arguments:

• Covering the Majority (80th Percentile Benchmark):

The government maintained that public housing subsidies must be targeted effectively due to finite public resources. In a 2009 parliamentary reply recorded in the Telescope Government Transcript, Mah Bow Tan stated that the S$8,000 ceiling already covered roughly 80% (8 in 10) of Singaporean resident households, arguing it remained generous by public policy standards.

 

• Targeted Help for Lower-Income Groups:

Rather than raising the top ceiling—which would increase competition for new flats—the ministry preferred introducing targeted subsidies for lower-to-middle income families, such as the Additional CPF Housing Grant (AHG) in 2006.

 

• Availability of Market Alternatives for Higher Earners:

Households earning above S$8,000 were directed to alternative options without tapping subsidised Build-To-Order (BTO) flats:

• Open-market resale HDB flats (which carried no income ceiling).

 

• Executive Condominiums (ECs) for the "sandwiched class" earning between S$8K to S$10K.

• Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) flats. 

• Mortgage Servicing Ratio (MSR) Definition of Affordability:

Affordability was defined through monthly debt service ratios, asserting that as long as mortgage servicing remained within 30% to 35% of household income (often fully payable via CPF without cash outlay), HDB pricing remained within reach for eligible cohorts. 

3. The 2011 Policy Shift
Following the May 2011 General Election, where housing supply shortages, escalating resale Cash-Over-Valuation (COV), and the squeeze on middle-income buyers became prominent national concerns, the government underwent a major leadership transition and policy reset:

1. Ministerial Transition: Khaw Boon Wan replaced Mah Bow Tan as Minister for National Development in May 2011.

 

2. Income Ceiling Revision (August 2011): Announced at the National Day Rally, the BTO income ceiling was raised from S$8K to S$10K, and the EC income ceiling was raised from S$10K to S$12K.

 

3. Supply Ramp-Up & De-linking: The ministry massively ramped up BTO flat construction (to 25,000 flats annually) and subsequently delinked new flat prices from resale market fluctuations to stabilize affordability.

 

4. DBSS Discontinuation: The DBSS framework was suspended and phased out after controversies surrounding peak pricing (e.g., The Peak @ Toa Payoh and Centrale 8 in Tampines).

Parting Thoughts

Personally, I am glad that Mr Khaw Boon Wan took over and replaced Mah Bow Tan and went on to tackle the housing crisis in Singapore. I am glad that Mah Bow Tan eventually retired from politics. These days, more rational ministers are in charge and I hope housing policies stay this way for the greater good of the people.