Daily Briefing: Future BTO flats in prime locations may face resale restrictions; SG-based Decacorn Capital invests in Chinese fintech Qupital

And Marina Bay Sands theatre to reopen on 18 December.

From ChannelNewsAsia:

Future Build-to-Order (BTO) flats in prime locations may be further subsidised so that they remain affordable, but they may also face some restrictions on resale conditions, said National Development Minister Desmond Lee on 11 December.

In a Facebook post, Lee said that a new housing model is necessary for public housing in "new areas with very prime attributes," as they will be "a lot more expensive" than current BTO flats.

Lee's comments come amidst concerns of a so-called “lottery effect” of public housing, where owners of subsidised flats in prime areas sell their homes for far higher prices than initially purchased.

Singapore has announced plans to develop thousands of housing units in the Greater Southern Waterfront, which is poised to become part of the Central Business District.

The 2,000ha development will be six times the size of Marina Bay, and was fleshed out by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally speech last year.

Read more here.

From e27:

Decacorn Capital, a Singapore-based cross-border tech VC firm, announced today it has invested in Qupital, a China-based fintech startup.

Decacorn joined Qupital’s Series A+ funding round, alongside existing investors Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, MindWorks Ventures, and Chinese fintech conglomerate CreditEase.

The funding news comes off the back of a $20.02m (US$15 million) Series A round in 2019.

As shared exclusively with e27, Qupital plans to utilise the new funds to bankroll its expansion beyond Hong Kong, Shanghai and Shenzhen to other key e-commerce hubs in China, namely, Beijing, Guangzhou, Yiwu, and Hangzhou.

Founded in 2016, Qupital is a B2B fintech platform that harnesses big data, blending fintech with e-commerce by using its proprietary credit assessment model to provide short term working capital to Chinese e-commerce merchants selling on Amazon, eBay, and Lazada amongst others.

Read more here.

From ChannelNewsAsia:

A two-night live concert featuring Sam Willows' Benjamin Kheng and other Singaporean artistes will be held at the Sands Theatre at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) on 18 and 19 December, with up to 500 people allowed to attend each night.

This is the first performance at the Sands Theatre since it was closed in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two-day pilot concert will also be Singapore's largest live music event since the "circuit breaker," said MBS in a press release.

Concert-goers will have to take COVID-19 tests, which will be provided free of charge.

The Back to Live concert is also headlined by Singapore Idol winner Sezairi Sezali and singer-songwriter Charlie Lim, with special guest appearances by local performers Narelle, KEYANA, Aisyah Aziz, THELIONCITYBOY and Linying.

Read more here.