PRESS DIGEST - Singapore newspapers - July 15

SINGAPORE, July 15 (Reuters) - The following are stories from Singapore newspapers on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories.

THE STRAITS TIMES

- Keppel Land (KLAN.SI), Singapore's third-biggest property developer by market value, said it remains bullish about the Vietnamese market despite the country's widening trade deficit and soaring inflation.

Keppel Land said it would unlikely suffer a major impact from a possible devaluation of the dong because its rental income and residential sales are priced in U.S. dollars.

- The Singapore economy is still one of the most open and competitive in the world, but it faces the problems of an ageing population and the risk of external shocks in the long run, the World Trade Organisation said.

- Muhammad Aurangzeb has been appointed to head ABN Amro in Singapore. He replaces David Wong, who has joined the Bank of China in Hong Kong.

- Groups that attack Singapore's style of government do not want Singapore to be an example to other countries of how a "free market plus the rule of law, and stable macro-economic policies, can lead to progress and success, but without Western-style "liberal" democracy", Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said.

The groups that attack Singapore include human rights groups, non-governmental organisations and the western media, Lee said.

- Evening rush-hour traffic in Singapore's downtown district has declined by as much as 40 percent since five gantries were erected last week, the Land Transport Authority said.

- The trial of Chee Soon Juan, leader of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party and who was charged with speaking in public without a permit, was adjourned on Monday to give him time to review video evidence and to get a new lawyer.

- Ming Yi, the head of Singapore's second-largest charity Ren Ci Hospital, was arrested on Monday after a five-month probe by the police into the charity's finances. Ming Yi resigned from the charity on Monday.

BUSINESS TIMES

- No irregularities were found in the payments made by China Energy (CENR.SI), which makes dimethyl ether, when it bought Jiutai Energy in 2006, PricewaterhouseCoopers said.

- There are 121 casinos in Asia that are within a short flight from Singapore, with Taiwan, Japan and Thailand considering gaming options, Ernst & Young said.

Singapore is building two multi-billion dollar casinos as part of efforts to grow its services sector. ((Singapore Newsroom +65 6403 5677, singapore.newsroom@reuters.com))