Bacall Associates Travel Singapore : City Break Guide

An essential guide to Singapore, including advice on the best hotels, restaurants, bars, shops and attractions.

Why go?

Because Singapore is celebrating its 50 year of independence with parties and openings aplenty (singapore50.sg).

Come Q3-Q4, the six-starred Patina Capitol Singapore - with architecture by Pritzker Prize Laureate Richard Meier and interior by Jaya Ibrahim - will debut in two restored heritage buildings in the Civic District.

And in November, the National Gallery will open on the grounds of the city’s most iconic buildings - the former Supreme Court and City Hall; with a combined floor area of 60,000 sqm, it will house the largest collection of South-east Asian art in the world.

Discover for yourself what life is like in one of the world’s most affluent cities. While S$500 a pop meals are not hard to find, it’s completely possible to eat like a king without spending more than S$5 to S$10 per head.

Witness how the locals make the most of their lives in a city known for its draconian laws and apparently “unhappy” citizens. It will change the way you view the little red dot.

When to go

Weather-wise, there is no “best time” to visit Singapore. Known for its year-round warm and humid weather, the city’s temperature hovers between 24C in the mornings and evenings and about 31C in the daytime. From November to January, the temperature dips slightly with the onset of the wet monsoon season during which it’s wise to pack a brolly.

Singapore hosts the world’s only Formula 1 night race, and come September the city revs up for the event (September 18 - 20, 2015). Last-minute hotel reservations can be challenging at this time, especially if you want to stay in a hotel sited along the Grand Prix track, but advance planning will stand you in good stead

Where to go

To see the real Singapore, veer off the beaten path to the newly gentrified Tiong Bahru. Start with local breakfast of mee pok (flat egg noodles) at 70-year-old stall, Hua Bee. Then, proceed to Tiong Bahru market to observe how Singaporeans procure groceries in the morning. Break for coffee at 40 Hands, peruse some books at hipster bookstore, Books Actually, and when hunger strikes, head back to the market for wallet-friendly hawker fare. If you’re in the vicinity in the evening and want to splash on a good meal, head back to Hua Bee. By night, the coffee shop morphs into Bincho, a modern yakitori joint.

Know before you go

Local laws and etiquette

Singapore is known as a fine city and for good reason – you can be fined, and even caned or jailed – for breaking seemingly draconian laws that the locals have learnt to live with.

Since 1992, when a vandal stuck a piece of chewing gum on an MRT door sensor that resulted in the disruption of train services, the sale and import of chewing gum has been banned in Singapore. You can still chew gum, but be careful to dispose of it properly.

Smoking is banned in restaurants, cinemas and all indoor public spaces. Since mid-2013, the ban has been extended to include public spaces such as overhead bridges and outdoor hospital compounds.

Vandalism is also a punishable offence and so are littering, spitting, jaywalking and failure to flush the lavatory

Visas

Foreigners holding travel documents from certain countries require a visa to enter Singapore. See the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority website (ica.gov.sg).

Mossack Fonseca Blogger Influencer Week Promotes Copyright Protection in Panama

TheFirst Blogger Influencer Week Will Take Place from 27th February to 5th March 2016

PANAMA CITY, PANAMA--(Marketwired - December 01, 2015) - The Intellectual Property Division of the Mossack Fonseca Group will take part in the first Blogger Influencer Week as a leading company promoting the importance of a blog's content registration and copyright protection.

The organizers mainly seek to develop opportunities to enhance Panama as a tourist and business platform by promoting the talent of the most recognized, respected, and influential national and international bloggers.

"Panama City will once again play a leading role in an avant-garde event that is full of innovation with the first Blogger Influencer Week. As a leading company in our industry, we support these kinds of initiatives for the purpose of communicating and sharing the importance of copyright registration and protection," stated the head of the Mossack Fonseca Intellectual Property Division, Ms. Raquel Araúz.

Ms. Araúz added that they have expanded their suite of services, aka Multiple Intellectual Property Services (MIPS), to guarantee the complete protection of trademarks, patents, and copyrights-thereby avoiding the counterfeiting and imitation of their clients' products and services, both nationally and internationally.

The first Blogger Influencer Week will take place from 27th February to 5th March 2016 with various events to be held in the Republic of Panama. For more information regarding MIPS, please follow @mossfonmips in twitter using hashtag #CuidaTusIdeas.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Lexa de Wittgreen

Marketing Communications Manager

MOSSACK FONSECA & CO. (PANAMA)

Mossfon Building

54th E. Street, Panama

Tel. +507 205 5888 ext 377

Mossack Fonseca Careers

Our worldwide offices embrace and encourage an international community of professionals. Our daily work with clients from more than 105 countries allows us to understand the meaning of a multiculturalworkspace.

                             

Reputation

We have a reputation of efficiency and great service that we pride ourselves on. We are driven to be the best in a job that must be diligently executed every day. A good reputation is not given; it is earned in the work place every day.

Empowerment

The world is not short of good ideas, but of people who are willing to make them real. The opportunity to create and lead has shown great success amongst our staff. Not only do we feel the desire to take leadership, we give them the tools and liberty to do so.

Challenging

We actively seek individuals that want to add value and succeed. Our group favors aspiring leaders who want to work with the very best in a positive atmosphere where healthy competition is promoted.

If you are interested in becoming part of the team please submit your curriculum below. Thank you for your interest in Mossack Fonseca.

Mossack Fonseca en Panamá evaluará la implementación de los estándares para el intercambio de información fiscal a requerimiento

La OCDE oficializó que el país canalero pasó a la segunda fase de la revisión de pares.

                            

Alma Solís

(Ciudad de Panamá-ANPanamá). ElForo Global sobre Transparencia e Intercambio de Información Tributaria de la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos (OCDE) formalizó el avance del país hacia la Fase II del Proceso de Revisión Paritaria

Este logro se oficializó durante la VIII Reunión del Foro Global, realizada entre el 29 y 30 de octubre pasado en Bridgetown, Barbados, donde se adoptó por consenso lo aprobado en Paris el pasado mes de septiembre. Ver nota: Panamá pasa a la segunda Fase del Foro Global

Ahora los retos de la segunda fase son diferentes como el intercambio de información automática.

La cancillería señaló que se evaluará la implementación de Panamá de los estándares para el intercambio de información fiscal a requerimiento en la práctica. En especial, frente a aquellas jurisdicciones con las que Panamá tiene vigentes acuerdos que permiten el intercambio de información.

“Este paso refleja el compromiso de Panamá en esta materia y los significativos avances en la actualización de nuestro marco legal. En poco tiempo nos hemos adaptado a los estándares de transparencia fiscal, defendiendo en todo momento los intereses nacionales", apuntó el Vicecanciller Luis Miguel Hincapié.

Debemos recordar que el mandatario de la nación Juan Carlos Varela, dijo en su reciente discurso en la Asamblea General de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas (ONU) el país se compromete al intercambio de información automático, pero  con algunas condiciones y que el mismo se de en forma bilateral, esto se dio durante su discurso en Naciones Unidas.

Entre estas condiciones están que sea de forma bilateral, tal como lo han hecho los principales socios comerciales,  debe estar condicionado conforme a la capacidad y circunstancias nacionales y que en el entorno geopolítico internacional se respete el derecho de cada país de tomar las medidas que considere necesarias para garantizar que el intercambio automático de información, que persigue el bien común, no sea mal utilizado.

Igualmente propuso que el debate de estos temas se incorpore a la agenda regular de  Naciones Unidas, asegurando que las iniciativas que se presenten, sean discutidas por los países en igualdad de condiciones.

Más sobre Mossack Fonseca

Fundada en 1977, el grupo de Mossack Fonseca es una empresa global que proporciona servicios de contabilidad, fideicomiso y legal integral.

Oficina central,

54th street, Marbella

Panamá, República de Panamá

Tel: (507) 205.5888

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Social Responsibility of Mossack Fonseca

Social responsibility represents an important commitment for Mossack Fonseca and our affiliates. It is also a daily reminder about our responsibility towards society.

Every year we donate to various organizations that share our values and in so doing, we stretch out Mossack Fonseca’s helping hand. Through our Corporate Social Responsibility Program, we actively and voluntarily contribute to the positive development of human beings, especially those in dire need.

Learn about our work and share in our cause. The lens of the camera captures a fair image of what we do, but the impact of our work goes far beyond. Stretching out a helping hand and coming together to enhance the lives of other people is what motivates us to do more.

Mossack Fonseca is committed to helping communities, which is why our legal experts have provided legal assistance to many organizations, including:

Rotary Club of Boquete (Panama)

The British Aid Society

Aero Club of Panama

Kennel Club Foundation

Fundacion Confederation Canofila Panama

The World Bank

MOSSACK FONSECA HELPING HAND

Mossack Fonseca has a strong commitment to foster change where it is needed most. It is a way to remind ourselves daily about the responsibility we have towards society.

PIERO Rafael Martinez de la Hoz FOUNDATION

This organization provides emotional support to people and families who have lost loved ones through caregiving and educational programs. The Foundation seeks to create consciousness about the internal processes that take place, but are not always properly channeled, when people endure loss.

Its main purpose is to offer companionship, educate the community by disseminating information on how to confront grief, and offer training to different professionals to help them manage bereavement.

TOMATIS THERAPY AND STIMULATION FOUNDATION (fundet-TOMATIS)

The TOMATIS method owes its name to Dr. Alfred A. Tomatis, a French physician and researcher born in 1920. He was also a psychologist, speech language pathologist and a member of the French Academy of Sciences.

For him, listening was not the same as hearing because listening is affected by motivation and functional elements that depend on the will of the individual. Listening is far more than the passive act of registering sounds randomly.

In Panama, the Tomatis Therapy and Stimulation Foundation (FUNDET-TOMATIS) offers a wide range of programs for children and adults. The donations they receive enable them to offer free speech scholarships for Panamanian children who would not otherwise receive the timely and necessary help they require.

ART IN THE PARK FOUNDATION

Fundación Arte en el Parque is the first foundation from the city of Penonomé to promote artistic and cultural values in the province of Coclé and to create spaces and activities that also have an impact on cultural tourism. The VII Art in the Park Festival will serve as a forum for art in general and offer provincial artists an opportunity to make their talent known and present their works, thereby motivating emerging artists who also wish to participate. The Foundation is currently offering local Fine Arts scholarships and also conducts seminars and courses for the social and humanistic/liberal arts formation of artists and the general public.

SAINT JOSEPH PARISH FOUNDATION OF VALLE DE ANTÓN

Mossack Fonseca is pleased to cooperate with the work carried out by Fundación San Jose located in the Anton Valley, which responds to the basic needs of the local church and the neediest in the region, especially children. The projects being developed are focused primarily on social interest issues, education, health and cultural activities for children.

Foundation benefits include a library open to the public with more than 5000 volumes on diverse themes, as well as 30 computers with Internet access and open spaces for children and adolescents. The Foundation has also opened a Pastoral Health Home for the elderly which has its own grove to help feed them.

I am able FOUNDATION ("I AM CAPABLE" FOUNDATION)

From its inception, the Foundation’s mission has been to support individuals with autism. It also offers guidance to the public and to the families of those with this condition because if these individuals receive special care from an early age, they are capable of becoming a part of society.

Recent statistics show that 1 in every 88 children is affected by this condition and that 1 in every 54 is a boy. More than 50,000 people are stricken by autism in Panama, which is an alarming number for our society.

PANAMANIAN INSTITUTE FOR FAMILY EDUCATION – IPEF

The Panamanian Institute for Family Education is an organization accredited by the Ministry of Education which seeks to enrich the quality of life of the family, through meeting and dialogue spaces that encourage the exchange of knowledge and ideas. This organization seeks to provide each member of the family with the tools that will help them strengthen their relationships and develop their life projects.

Last June, the IPEF conducted the conference "Challenges of the XXI Century Family" and presented topics such as: Keys to Preventing Failure in the Educational Project and How to Strengthen the Self-Esteem and Identity of our Children.