Singapore App Maker MyHero Raises $10M Series A For Its Stock Market ...

An app that lets people play the stock market without the risk of losing any real money has turned its virtual cash game into a pile of actual Benjamins, by closing out a $10 million funding round - one of the largest Series A rounds for a consumer startup in the region, it claims.

The app in question, TradeHero, is made by a Singapore-based developer MyHero. Investors in the round are Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers China fund (KPCB China) and IPV Capital.

TradeHero users start out with $100,000 in virtual cash to spend, choosing which and how much stock to 'buy' - there are no live trades going on here, it's a simulation - and getting to see whether their trading decisions would have panned out IRL because the app follows actual market movements.

Dinesh Bhatia, CEO and Founder of MyHero Ltd, the holding company for the TradeHero iOS app, describes it a 'financial literacy tool' that uses gamification to engage users and help them learn how to improve their trading.

It's part 'fantasy football' style game, part trading learning tool, part stock market tip resource - the latter aspect because TradeHero's most successful traders become part of a leaderboard that other users can pay to follow so they get the inside track on their (successful) trading decisions (leaderboard members also share in these winnings - giving them an incentive to keep virtually trading on TradeHero's platform).

Has TradeHero made Bhatia a better trader? I ask because he got the idea for the app after losing 'a lot of money on the stock market' by betting on Palm's webOS rebirth. Oops ... 'It has,' he says. 'If you followed me [on TradeHero] I'm up 50% from January this year when the app launched. The market has been good this year, but still that's pretty good. But I'm nowhere near the top [of the TradeHero leaderboard].' Ergo, there's still lots to learn.

Other aspects of TradeHero's business model include in-app purchase options, to monetise engaged users - by offering them things like the ability to buy more virtual cash so they can increase their liquidity, or the ability to reset their portfolio entirely so they start again afresh. TradeHero also has a b2bc revenue stream via tie-ins with financial companies wanting to reach an engaged community of users - provided whatever they're trying to get access is relevant to its audience, says Bhatia.

'Most of our [learn how to play the stock market] rivals do live trading [such as the eToro social network]. We are more about monetising off the information brokerage. In a way we're focusing on the research - we can call it micro-research - which is user-generated... rather than focusing on the trading. These are tips that you can then use, once you subscribe to TradeHero to actually bridge the gap to live trading, and hopefully make better decisions,' he adds.

So now it's landed a $10 million Series A, what does MyHero intend to do with the money? Bhatia says it plans to spend the funding on a big marketing push for TradeHero over the next 18 to 24 months. The app launched seven months ago, and has since built up a user base of around 280,000 - three-quarters of whom he says are active on a bi-monthly basis, emphasising that those figures have been achieved working with relatively limited resources.

TradeHero was actually incubated out of TNF Ventures, taking in a seed round of around $500,000-$600,000 about a year ago, with backing from Singapore's National Research Foundation. Landing such large follow-on funding will allow it to ramp up its marketing efforts on several fronts, he says, including targeting user-acquisition effects at markets such as the U.S. and Europe which it hasn't really had the 'firepower' to focus on to-date. It's also planning to translate the app into more languages to help grow its reach further.

Markets where TradeHero has been getting traction to-date include Asia and South America, with Bhatia specifically singling out Thailand, Singapore, India, Mexico, Vietnam and also the U.S. as places where it's garnered a following. 'TradeHero is available in more than 200 countries. We've been number one in the finance category on the iOS App Store in 75 countries. And top 10 in about 100 countries right now,' he adds.

Part of the new funding will go on ramping up the startup's headcount, to support its marketing efforts and market growth push. In the latter area, China will be a key focus over the next three to six months. 'We've got our sights on China. China has a lot of online accounts, brokerage accounts. The interest is potentially very, very high in something like this,' he says. 'We have tried and tested in markets like Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan where the mindset is very similar. China is a very, very big market for us.'

The Series A round is actually double the amount TradeHero has previously said it was aiming to raise this year. Expect the extra money to go towards a new, presumably complementary app - although Bhatia won't comment specify on what it's working on yet.

But fuelled by at least some of that $10 million - and the addition of an Android app to expand TradeHero's mobile platform reach - this time year he says he's hoping the app will have amassed a user-base that's 'in the couple of millions'. 'We've done close to 300,000 users now with seven staff, with a very limited budget, with just iOS. I'm very confident that we can hopefully be in the two to four million user range,' he adds.

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Singapore ceremony commemorates Australian World War II commando raid ...

Updated September 27, 2013 15:12:41

A ceremony has been held in Singapore to commemorate Operation Jaywick, one of the most successful commando raids of World War II.

Australians, British and Singaporeans were on hand to commemorate both a triumph, and a tragedy.

In September 1943, a group of 14 Australian and British commandos left from Exmouth in Western Australia on an unassuming fishing boat.

They slipped into Singapore's harbour and attached mines to Japanese ships, before slipping out again.

Australian High Commissioner Philip Green told the Singapore ceremony that the commando team had 'slipped quietly' into Singapore's Keppel Harbour, and 'loudly into history'.

'On the night of September 26, the operatives set out from Subar Island, infiltrated Singapore harbour, attached limpet mines to the Japanese ships at anchor,' he said.

'As they paddled away, back to Subar Island, they observed the sinking of 37,000 tonnes of enemy shipping.'

All 14 commandos returned home safely, but others weren't so lucky.

The Japanese arrested 57 civilians and civilian internees, none of whom had any involvement.

Singapore history consultant Razeen Chan says all of those arrested were tortured, and 15 of them died.

'Let us not forget the pain and suffering that was visited upon the innocent civilians and internees, by the dreaded Kempei Tei, the Japanese military police,' he said.

Jackie Sutherland's godfather, Rob Scott, was among those punished.

'His post had been minister of information here in Singapore before the war,' he said.

'And so the Japanese assumed he knew something about the planning of the raid, if not he was actually involved in the planning.'

Some of those involved in Jaywick were part of a second raid, Operation Rimau.

British High Commissioner Antony Phillipson says the results of that operation were disastrous.

'Thirteen died in the action itself, including (Jaywick mission commander) Ivan Lyon,' he said.

'Ten were captured and put on trial for espionage, found guilty, and beheaded - even more tragically, just months before the Japanese surrender in 1945.'

First posted September 27, 2013 13:32:18

Sebastian Vettel claims Singapore F1 Grand Prix pole for Red Bull

The GuardianSebastian Vettel claims Singapore F1 Grand Prix pole for Red BullThe GuardianVettel sat out almost the last three minutes of Q3 after completing just one run but still finished ahead of Nico Rosberg, Romain Grosjean, Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton to make himself a clear favourite to win Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix. That ...

Sky Sports F1's Singapore Grand Prix schedule

It has glitz and glamour, a European timetable despite being the first of the late-2013 flyaways, and remains one of the most popular races on the calendar despite being one of the toughest. Yes, it's the Singapore GP - exclusively live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend!

Described as 'one of the wonders of modern sport' this week by Jenson Button, and hailed by Bernie Ecclestone as 'the jewel in F1's crown which keeps getting polished', the Singapore GP has already become an iconic sight on the F1 calendar despite staging the first night race in F1 history less than ten years ago.

The sport has arguably never looked better than it does under the Singapore lights, providing the Sky F1 team with the perfect stage from which to tell the tale of the weekend from Friday morning all the way through to Sunday night as high drama off the track is married to what promises to be a fascinating battle on it.

Live on Sky Sports Live Formula One 2013 Singapore Grand Prix September 22, 2013 11:30am

So in addition to delivering the latest updates on the 2014 driver market - with Rachel Brookes joining Ted Kravitz on duty in the pitlane - we'll also be hearing from the likes of Nico Rosberg, Mark Webber and Heikki Kovalainen over the course of the weekend on the unique challenge of Singapore, F1's version of a gruelling two-hour high-wire act.

Plus, there's a plan afoot for a different kind of interview between Nico Hulkenberg, Johnny Herbert and a few selected others, but we'll tweet out more about that in due course...

Meanwhile, our race-day programme will include plenty of blasts from the past with Martin Brundle meeting up with former F1 World Champion Alain Prost, and we'll take a look at how Martin and Karun Chandok got on last week at Snetterton when they took some 1970 chargers for a spin.

Back to the present time, and Sunday's race show - on air from 11.30am on Sky F1 - will offer a unique perspective on the life - and schedule! - of a F1 driver away from the track as Ted Kravitz takes on the role of being Sebastian Vettel's PA for a few hours in order to discover just how the World Champion manages to juggle his sponsorship commitments on a particularly busy Thursday in Singapore, and then, back on track, Johnny Herbert and Damon Hill will tour the Marina Bay Street circuit to discuss the difficulties of racing around street venues.

Live on Sky Sports Live Formula One 2013 Singapore Grand Prix: Qualifying September 21, 2013 1:00pm

And then it will be lights out at 1pm for the race itself...or, to be more exact, lights on as Singapore delivers the next chapter of the 2013 World Championship.

Will Vettel be prevented from completing a hat-trick of victories? You'll just have to tune in to find out...

Sky Sports F1's Singapore GP schedule in fullTuesday 17th September8pm - Classic F1 - 2010 Singapore GP.

Wednesday 18th September8pm - Classic F1 - 2011 Singapore GP. 10pm - F1 Legends - Sir Frank Williams.11pm - F1 Legends - Mika Hakkinen.

Thursday 19th September11am - Drivers' Press Conference - Live! 8pm - 2012 Singapore GP highlights. 9:30pm - Gear Up For Singapore.

Friday 20th September9:45am - GP2 Practice - Live!10:45am - Singapore GP Practice One - Live!12:55pm - GP2 Qualifying - Live!2:15pm - Singapore GP Practice Two - Live!4.15pm - Team Principals' Press Conference - Live!6:30pm - The F1 Show - Live!

Saturday 21st September9am - GP2 Feature Race - Live!10:45am - Singapore GP Practice Three - Live!1pm - Singapore GP Qualifying - Live! 3:45pm - Classic F1 - 2009 Singapore GP.6:30pm - Lotus - Champman's winning Formula.7:30pm - Singapore GP Qualifying replay.10:15pm - Ted's Qualifying Notebook.10:30pm - Classic F1 - 2010 Singapore GP.

Sunday 22nd September9:05am - GP2 Sprint Race - Live!10:15am - Architects of F1 - Gordon Murray.11.30am - The 2013 Singapore GP - Live!4.15pm - F1 Legends - Eddie Irvine.7pm - 2013 Singapore GP highlights.8pm - Ted's Race Notebook.

Singapore Airlines To Enter India's Turbulent Aviation Sector

English: Singapore Airlines Airbus A300B4-203 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Singapore Airlines Ltd., one of the leading global airline brands, has announced its entry into India in a joint venture with the Tata Group, the third foreign airline to do so after Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways and Malaysia's AirAsia Bhd.

The airlines are taking advantage of a historic decision by the Indian government in September last year that allowed overseas airlines to invest up to 49% in local airlines. Previously foreign investors, but not airlines, had been allowed to hold up to a 49% stake in local airlines.

Under the agreement it signed with Tata Group holding company Tata Sons Ltd., Singapore Airlines will hold a 49% stake while Tata will have a 51% in the yet-to-be-named, full service airline in India.

With this deal Tata will be doubling its bet on the Indian aviation sector. Earlier this year signed an agreement to start a budget airline in partnership with AirAsia and a closely held Indian company, Telestra Tradeplace Pvt. Ltd. The deal is pending approvals.

Etihad was the first to enter the Indian aviation sector with a deal to buy a 24% stake in Jet Airways, India's second-largest domestic and international carrier. That deal is expected to close in the next couple of weeks.

Despite this interest, the Indian aviation sector is a troubled one.

Indian carriers lost about $1.6 billion in the financial year ended March 31 - with most of this accounted for by Air India and Kingfisher - as a result of increased expenses and declining passenger traffic, according to a report by the Capa Centre for Aviation in Sydney.

Any new entrant has to to be prepared for several years of losses and a tough domestic market that is dominated by low cost carriers which hold 65% of the market, Capa said in a separate note on the Tata-Singapore Airlines deal.

That said, India now has only two full-service domestic airlines-national carrier Air India and Jet Airways-and without the legacy issues faced by those two, 'Tata and Singapore Airlines may be in a position to establish a more competitive, hybrid business model, offering a high quality product with a lower cost base that then incumbent full service carriers,' Capa said.

The greatest potential may be in international routes as international traffic in and out of India, unlike domestic traffic, has grown every year in the past decade, including during the economic slowdown. However, since Indian regulation requires a new airline to operate in the domestic sector for five years before it can fly international routes, this opportunity is still some ways off.

The more immediate question is how will Tata manage its two competing agreements? While one is for a new budget carrier and the other is for a new full-service airline, the two will still largely be playing in the same sandbox, at least until indian authorities relax their five-year rule on international flights (and there's no clarity on when that might happen).

Until then, there might be a lesson in management on how Tata dances with two, competing partners.

Lewis Hamilton column: Singapore Grand Prix an incredible challenge

Last updated at 05:48 GMT

There is something really special about the Singapore Grand Prix - I always look forward to coming here and it's one of my favourite races.

For a start it's a street circuit and I always love that, but it has so many characteristics that add up to make it unique.

Singapore itself is just beautiful. It's so clean, there's a great climate and the buildings are spectacular, particularly at night when all the lights are on. It's one of the most stunning cities in the world.

The ambience is already great before you get to the track and then the track itself is just phenomenal. It's a great street circuit and it is so challenging and really complex to drive.

There are 23 corners and it's such a long lap at 3.15 miles. I think of it like the famous Nurburgring Nordschleife - not in terms of elevation change, but because you have corner after corner after corner.

Perfecting a lap is really difficult - remembering all the braking and turn-in points, all the kerbs and so on. There is so much info to take in.

It is also an incredible physical challenge for all the drivers. It's warm and really humid and there is no respite because you are constantly turning left and right, left and right. It's like sprinting. I'm sure our heart-rate here is higher than in other places.

The intense heat of the day fades a little as the sun goes down, but in the cars it is hot as hell - around 60C in the cockpit. It's really not nice and you just have to deal with it.

One of the strategies I use is to get in the sauna when I arrive just to get used to those sorts of conditions.

You sweat so much but that's actually a good thing because it helps prevent you getting too hot.

It's hard to describe what it's like to drive a two-hour race in those conditions, but try thinking of what it would be like sitting in a sauna wearing a full fireproof race suit and helmet.

If 10 is the hottest temperature of that sauna, then the Singapore race is a seven. And then you do a bit of a workout - some press-ups, running on the spot and so on.

It's exhausting and mentally draining at the same time, so keeping your energy levels balanced and optimised through the race is not easy.

You have sweat dripping down your face and there is so much going on that it is easy to make mistakes.

Driving a lap in Singapore is just so hectic. You are being thrown around in the car, bounced all over the place. There is compression in your spine. Your legs are moving. You're vibrating all the time, hoping not to lock up the brakes. It's crazy.

Another strange aspect to it being a night race is that although we are in Singapore - which is seven hours ahead of the UK - we stay on European time.

Light messes with your mind and body clock, so we try to ensure there are natural-light lamps in the room and outside the little offices we have in the paddock. That helps your body think it's still daylight.

I changed my preparations a little for this race this year to do more swimming. I've realised that I tend to hold my breath when I'm doing stuff and breathing is such an important part of your body flow.

In the gym the other night I was doing pull-ups and sometimes I just held my breath, so the guys had to keep telling me 'breathe, breathe'.

So hopefully getting in the water and remembering to breathe properly will be a big help. If I'm giving my brain a bit more oxygen, I should be able to calculate things that bit faster.

Despite all the challenges, I just love driving here and I always seem to go well. I won here in 2009 and feel like I have been the moral victor twice as well.

Last year, I was leading comfortably when my McLaren's gearbox broke, and in 2008 I was second behind Ferrari's Felipe Massa and on a strategy that could have won me the race - then came the Safety Car period after Nelson Piquet deliberately crashed his Renault and I ended up third behind Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg.

Hopefully I can make up for those disappointments with another win on Sunday.

Meeting a special fan

I had a really nice experience at a PR event in Singapore on Thursday morning. I met an eight-year-old boy called Alex who had apparently been waiting for six hours to see me. He'd even brought me a bag of my favourite sweets.

He wants to be a racing driver - he's in karting - and he was asking me about it.

It's really overwhelming to see a young kid aspiring to be you. He came up and sat on stage and he had tears in his eyes.

It's hard to grasp how he would be feeling at that time, but I just wanted to reach out to the kid and give him as much positive energy as possible.

I told him I come from a small town called Stevenage in the middle of nowhere and would never have thought I would be coming this far across the world and having so many people supporting me.

I said he should work hard at school - because that will help when you get to where I am - and just make sure he races his heart out every time he's out there on the track.

He asked me if I got nervous when I'm driving. I said I am generally really relaxed but always have butterflies before the start - and that's a good thing. If you have that, never think negatively about it.

My attitude to these sorts of experiences has changed.

When I got to F1, I was doing it for myself and family. I feel like I have got to a transition period now where it is for the fans to some degree - people like Alex.

I want to set the right tone and a good example. Naturally, I want to get in the car and do my best but I also want to spread positive energy.

It's not just about me; it's bigger than that.

Lewis Hamilton was talking to BBC Sport's Andrew Benson

Singapore Grand Prix, day one Friday 20 September: First practice at 10:55 BST on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, plus live text commentary online from 10.30. Second practice at 14:25 BST on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra, plus live text commentary online from 14:00.Singapore Grand Prix, day two Saturday 21 September : Final practice: online live text commentary from 10:30 BST. Qualifying at 14:15 BST on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra plus live text commentary online. Qualifying highlights, 17:15 BST on BBC One.Singapore Grand Prix, day three Sunday 22 September: Race coverage at 13:00 BST on BBC Radio 5 live, and live text commentary online from 12:00. Race highlights, 17:00 BST on BBC One.

EU, Singapore conclude far

Credit: Reuters/Tim Chong

A worker walks past stacks of containers at the PSA International's Pasir Panjang terminal in Singapore December 18, 2008.

The chief negotiators of both sides presented the entire text of the agreement on Friday after initialing each page of the roughly 1,000-page document.

Subject to approval in Singapore and by the 28 EU member states and the European Parliament, the agreement should enter into force in late 2014 or early 2015.

Trade in goods between the two topped 52 billion euros in 2012 and in services 28 billion euros in 2011. Mutual investment has reached 190 billion euros.

The European Union sees a free trade deal as opening the door to a deal with other members of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has set a goal of economic integration by 2015.

The EU and ASEAN launched free trade talks in 2007, but abandoned them two years later, the EU choosing instead to conduct bilateral talks with individual members.

The European Commission is already negotiating free trade accords with Malaysia and Vietnam and launched talks in March with Thailand.

Singapore has a population of just 5 million people, against some 600 million for the whole of ASEAN, but accounts for about a third of all EU-ASEAN trade and more than 60 percent of all investment between the two regions.

The deal goes beyond many other free trade accords in committing to open up public procurement, an area where the EU has many leading suppliers, and agreeing on technical standards in areas such motor vehicles, electronics and green technologies.

For example, a car made according to EU standards will be accepted for sale in Singapore.

The European Union also gains better protection of 'geographical indications', region-specific products such as Parma ham or champagne.

EU tariffs on virtually all items from Singapore will disappear over five years. Singapore has committed to its existing zero tariffs on EU imports.

Singapore is likely to benefit from reduced tariffs for pharmaceutical and petrochemical products.

In services, particularly financial, the agreement will ensure the right to sell directly or establish branches in each other's markets and promises to provide greater transparency over the award of licenses.

(Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop; editing by Stephen Nisbet)

Singapore: a new playground for the rich?

BBC NewsSingapore: a new playground for the rich?BBC NewsNew York, London and Monaco are the traditional destinations for the ultra rich. But now, add Singapore to that list. The city-state is gearing up for its most glitzy event of the year - the Formula One night race - where thousands of people will be ...

Taxis Vanish in Rain as Singapore Gets Congested: Southeast Asia

At 6 a.m. one weekday morning, 64-year-old taxi driver Koh Chia Hock set out to ply Singapore 's roads when it started raining. So he turned around and went home.

'If I go and fetch a customer, it's very risky,' said Koh, as the heavy traffic raises the chance of an accident that could leave him without earnings while the car is repaired. 'I don't have the stomach for it. I don't want to drive when it rains.'

Cab drivers like Koh are avoiding the traffic jams that have become a hallmark of Singapore's tropical rainstorms after a jump in the city's population and a surge in vehicles clogged roads. As the government shuts the center of the city this weekend for the annual Formula One street race, residents are bracing for even more delays.

'This is a problem that has been accumulated over many years -- infrastructure investment has not kept pace with the demand,' said Irvin Seah, a senior economist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in Singapore who was part of the nation's economic review committee in the early 2000s. 'With the congestion, time will be lost in traffic jams and that's essentially money.'

Singapore's roads are trying to cope with a population that has jumped by more than 1.1 million since mid-2004 to 5.3 million. Taxi waiting times of an hour or more are tarnishing the city-state's reputation for efficiency as the government works to turn the island into a regional center for industries such as biotechnology and wealth management.

The 1996 transport system white paper planned for a population of 4 million by 2030. A government report this year said the number of people on the island that's less than a third of the size of Luxembourg may grow to 6.9 million by then.

Building Railways

Singapore closed roads on Wednesday in the city center for six days for the Formula One night race and related activities, according to the Land Transport Authority. The closures add to the congestion downtown, said Song Seng Wun, an economist at CIMB Group Holdings Bhd. (CIMB) in Singapore.

'It is an annual inconvenience,' said Song.

Singapore is spending S$60 billion ($48 billion) on new subway lines and at least another S$12 billion on buses and highways to try to rein in the congestion and allow for future growth. While those projects will roll out over the next 17 years, overcrowding and delays are beginning to affect the image of a city often considered a model in the world.

Singapore's place on the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking has fallen to fifth in 2013 since topping the list in 2010, as its marks for basic infrastructure and business productivity and efficiency fell. Singapore ranked below Kuala Lumpur and New Delhi in a survey of commuters' experience based on speed, cost of travel and overall comfort, released in 2011 by Frost & Sullivan Inc.

More Railways

'New rail lines typically require a long lead time,' said Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew in e-mailed answers to questions. 'As a result, we are experiencing overcrowding at the moment in our public transport network.'

To try to curb the increase in traffic, the government has cut the growth in licenses for new cars to 0.5 percent, from 3 percent annually between 1990 and 2008. The number of licensed vehicles on the roads increased 35 percent from 2001 to 2011.

Simon Yeo, a business development consultant, now wakes up at 6 a.m., two hours earlier than he used to, in order to beat the traffic on his 21-kilometer (13-mile) commute.

'I lose a lot of sleep, but I still don't feel as tired in terms of how strenuous it is getting stuck in major traffic,' said Yeo, 32.

Congestion Cost

Road congestion costs Asian economies an estimated 2 percent to 5 percent of gross domestic product a year due to lost time and higher transport costs, according to the Asian Development Bank 's website.

'There are too many cars,' said taxi driver Koh, who says it takes twice as long to get to the city center than when he started driving cabs a decade ago. 'It's not that there are too few taxis, it's just that if they are not occupied, they are caught in jams.'

'Reputational damage will come when it seeps into the minds of visitors, that they see better infrastructure elsewhere and they don't see the same in Singapore,' said Wai Ho Leong, a Singapore-based economist at Barclays Plc who helped analyze the city's tourism projects when he worked at the Ministry of Trade and Industry. 'I think it's slowly seeping in.'

That's the case for Hong Kong-based Tsang Hin Cheng, a senior executive at a U.S bank who visits Singapore once a month.

'Diabolical' Situation

'I love Singapore, but there's always that hour you waste trying to get a taxi,' said Tsang, who has been coming to the city-state for 10 years. 'It's diabolical how bad the taxi situation is in Singapore. Remind me never to move here.'

The government's Land Transport Authority says the average waiting time for a taxi in the city center during peak hours in March was 4.1 minutes and average traffic speed in the central business district in 2012 was 28.6 kilometers per hour (18 miles per hour).

Paul Barter, an adjunct professor of urban transport policy at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore who has advised city governments in China, Indonesia and Columbia on transport policy, says the figures don't tell the real picture.

'Averages are very misleading,' said Barter, who has lived in the city-state for 12 years. 'Things are not quite as bad as some people have been saying, they're not quite as rosy as the government has been saying.'

ComfortDelGro Corp Ltd. (CD), Singapore's biggest cab operator, estimates that almost 95 percent of its 16,300 fleet is in service during wet weather, the company said in an e-mail. Many taxis are caught in traffic jams when it rains, it said. The island has about 137 rain days a year, according to government data.

The figures are little consolation for office workers waiting hours to get a taxi.

'If it rains, I never get a cab,' said Nitin Damodaran, a private banker based in the city's central business district. 'Try getting a cab on Friday evenings. It's impossible. I don't know where all the cabs disappear to.'

To contact the reporter on this story: Sharon Chen in Singapore at schen462@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephanie Phang at sphang@bloomberg.net

Enlarge image

Football match

Fourteen suspected members of a football match-fixing ring have been arrested in Singapore.A joint statement from the Singapore police force and the country's Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau said 12 men and two women had been detained after an operation lasting 12 hours that targeted an organised crime ring.'Police confirm that the suspected leader and several other individuals who are the subject of ongoing investigations in other jurisdictions for match-fixing were among the persons arrested,' the statement said.

Interpol, the France-based international police co-operation organisation, commended the arrests.

'Singaporean authorities have taken an important step in cracking down on an international match-fixing syndicate by arresting the main suspects in the case,' Interpol secretary general Ronald K Noble said.The European anti-crime agency Europol said in February that a Singapore-based syndicate had directed match-fixing for at least 380 matches in Europe alone in an operation worth millions of euro.Matches were said to include Champions League ties and World Cup qualifiers.The world governing body Fifa has warned that match-fixing is threatening football on a global scale and has handed down heavy punishments to players and officials found guilty.In April three Lebanese officials were dropped from refereeing an AFC Cup match in Singapore, hours before kickoff. Referee Ali Sabbagh was jailed for six months in Singapore for accepting sexual favours to fix the game between Singapore's Tampines Rovers and India's East Bengal.Fifa issued global bans on players from Estonia and Tunisia as well as match officials from Armenia in connection with attempts to manipulate games.

Sky Sports F1's Singapore Grand Prix schedule

It has glitz and glamour, a European timetable despite being the first of the late-2013 flyaways, and remains one of the most popular races on the calendar despite being one of the toughest. Yes, it's the Singapore GP - exclusively live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend!

Described as 'one of the wonders of modern sport' this week by Jenson Button, and hailed by Bernie Ecclestone as 'the jewel in F1's crown which keeps getting polished', the Singapore GP has already become an iconic sight on the F1 calendar despite staging the first night race in F1 history less than ten years ago.

The sport has arguably never looked better than it does under the Singapore lights, providing the Sky F1 team with the perfect stage from which to tell the tale of the weekend from Friday morning all the way through to Sunday night as high drama off the track is married to what promises to be a fascinating battle on it.

Live on Sky Sports Live Formula One 2013 Singapore Grand Prix September 22, 2013 11:30am

So in addition to delivering the latest updates on the 2014 driver market - with Rachel Brookes joining Ted Kravitz on duty in the pitlane - we'll also be hearing from the likes of Nico Rosberg, Mark Webber and Heikki Kovalainen over the course of the weekend on the unique challenge of Singapore, F1's version of a gruelling two-hour high-wire act.

Plus, there's a plan afoot for a different kind of interview between Nico Hulkenberg, Johnny Herbert and a few selected others, but we'll tweet out more about that in due course...

Meanwhile, our race-day programme will include plenty of blasts from the past with Martin Brundle meeting up with former F1 World Champion Alain Prost, and we'll take a look at how Martin and Karun Chandok got on last week at Snetterton when they took some 1970 chargers for a spin.

Back to the present time, and Sunday's race show - on air from 11.30am on Sky F1 - will offer a unique perspective on the life - and schedule! - of a F1 driver away from the track as Ted Kravitz takes on the role of being Sebastian Vettel's PA for a few hours in order to discover just how the World Champion manages to juggle his sponsorship commitments on a particularly busy Thursday in Singapore, and then, back on track, Johnny Herbert and Damon Hill will tour the Marina Bay Street circuit to discuss the difficulties of racing around street venues.

Live on Sky Sports Live Formula One 2013 Singapore Grand Prix: Qualifying September 21, 2013 1:00pm

And then it will be lights out at 1pm for the race itself...or, to be more exact, lights on as Singapore delivers the next chapter of the 2013 World Championship.

Will Vettel be prevented from completing a hat-trick of victories? You'll just have to tune in to find out...

Sky Sports F1's Singapore GP schedule in fullTuesday 17th September8pm - Classic F1 - 2010 Singapore GP.

Wednesday 18th September8pm - Classic F1 - 2011 Singapore GP. 10pm - F1 Legends - Sir Frank Williams.11pm - F1 Legends - Mika Hakkinen.

Thursday 19th September11am - Drivers' Press Conference - Live! 8pm - 2012 Singapore GP highlights. 9:30pm - Gear Up For Singapore.

Friday 20th September9:45am - GP2 Practice - Live!10:45am - Singapore GP Practice One - Live!12:55pm - GP2 Qualifying - Live!2:15pm - Singapore GP Practice Two - Live!4.15pm - Team Principals' Press Conference - Live!6:30pm - The F1 Show - Live!

Saturday 21st September9am - GP2 Feature Race - Live!10:45am - Singapore GP Practice Three - Live!1pm - Singapore GP Qualifying - Live! 3:45pm - Classic F1 - 2009 Singapore GP.6:30pm - Lotus - Champman's winning Formula.7:30pm - Singapore GP Qualifying replay.10:15pm - Ted's Qualifying Notebook.10:30pm - Classic F1 - 2010 Singapore GP.

Sunday 22nd September9:05am - GP2 Sprint Race - Live!10:15am - Architects of F1 - Gordon Murray.11.30am - The 2013 Singapore GP - Live!4.15pm - F1 Legends - Eddie Irvine.7pm - 2013 Singapore GP highlights.8pm - Ted's Race Notebook.

Singapore makes green building push

BBC NewsSingapore makes green building pushBBC NewsBut with major urban growth come pollution problems. And it takes more than just recycling and planting trees to combat that. Singapore, for example, is looking to offset the effects of a concrete jungle by incorporating green ideas into its urban ...

Singapore to import lambs from Canada for this year's korban ritual

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Singapore among top cities to live, visit, do business

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The Nick Vujicic experience in Singapore

Yahoo! Singapore News (blog)The Nick Vujicic experience in SingaporeYahoo! Singapore News (blog)For starters, the world-famous limbless motivational speaker is especially fond of numbers. On his seventh visit to the republic, Vujicic rattled off an impressive list of statistics at a press conference – the “best” he's ever been to, he claimed ...

Overseas Australians cast votes in Singapore

Channel News AsiaOverseas Australians cast votes in SingaporeChannel News AsiaAustralians in Singapore casting their votes at the Australian High Commission at Napier Road on September 7. According to the Australian High Commission in Singapore, about 2,000 Australians living here turned up on Saturday to vote in the election.

'Crazy obsession': Singaporean man has amassed 6000 Barbie dolls

NBCNews.com (blog)'Crazy obsession': Singaporean man has amassed 6000 Barbie dollsNBCNews.com (blog)By John O'Callaghan, Reuters. SINGAPORE — The white exterior and spartan grey staircase of Jian Yang's tidy rowhouse give no hint of the shock that lies within - a pink living room floor and his collection of more than 6,000 Barbie dolls. The 33-year ...

Tim Ho Wan to open in western Singapore

Yahoo! Singapore NewsTim Ho Wan to open in western SingaporeYahoo! Singapore NewsIt will be opening its third Singapore outlet at Bedok Mall before Christmas this year. The first Singapore outlet, a 90-seater restaurant at Plaza Singapura (PS), opened in April. This was followed by the Toa Payoh outlet, which will officially open ...