Home » Posts tagged with "economy"
Posts tagged with "economy"
Sunny passes away – from political party member to homelessness
Jul. 28 | TOC just got news that Sunny passed away yesterday. Since this story was published, Sunny had found shelter in a Home for the Aged. His family cannot be traced to claim his body. TOC is enquiring how we may claim the body and give him a proper funeral....
Issues That Matter: Uniquely Singapore – F1 or F9?
Jan. 25 | “Can you imagine walking to every HDB block and every floor that you go, every 12 flats that you count, one of them is in arrears by more than three months? And at the end of the day, if they cannot pay and they default (on their mortgage loans),...
Don’t focus solely on GDP growth, NMP says
Jul. 24 | Wong Chun Han - Used under Creative Commons licence Singapore should cut its focus on economic growth and measure its progress with socio-economic indicators apart from the gross domestic product, a nominated member of parliament said Monday. “The changed...
Fastest growing economy? What about jobs and wages?
Jul. 16 | Leong Sze Hian – After adjusting for historical inflation of about two per cent, the annual real wage increase may only be about 0.6 per cent. I refer to the articles “Economy set to grow 13% – 15%” and “100,000 foreign workers needed:...
In bed with the Economic Strategies Committee
Feb. 5 | One of our resident cartoonists, Sei-Ji Rakugaki, wonders about the ESC through his sketchpad – is this further from reality or closer to the truth? See more of Sei-Ji’s work at My Sketchbook… __________________________________________
Is multiracialism also just an aspiration?
Jan. 4 | Breaking News: HDB resale flat prices rose 3.8 per cent over the third quarter which saw prices going up by 3.6 per cent. (Straits Times) Singapore’s economy shrank 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter to December from the previous three months…...
TOC Blog Feature: The expats will rule Singapore
Dec. 30 | From the website, Adam Khoo’s Philosophies And Investing Insights: I have a prediction. My prediction is that in a couple of years, the expatriates (from China, India, US etc…) will rule Singapore. They will increasing take on more leadership roles...
Shopkeepers dismayed at NTUC Fairprice’s presence in Eunos Crescent
Dec. 25 | Wong Chun Han NTUC FairPrice sets up a new mini-mart in Eunos to the dismay of local shopkeepers. It may be the Christmas festive season, but shopkeeper Mohamed Eliyas has little to cheer about. Run for the last 12 years from a HDB shop unit at Block...
PMETs and degree holders among hardest hit by weak labour market
Dec. 16 | Leong Sze Hian Despite a slight increase in GDP in the third quarter of this year, Singapore’s labour market, as well as the earnings and productivity of resident workers have not recovered. A report released yesterday by the Ministry of Manpower reveals...
Reform Party: Discussion session on Singapore’s economy
Dec. 4 | The Reform Party Secretary General, Mr. Kenneth Jeyaretnam, is hosting a discussion session on Singapore’s economy. Specifically, Kenneth will discuss our proposal for a minimum wage and other measures advocated by the Reform Party to improve the...
Importing foreign labour not sustainable, says Citigroup economist
Nov. 30 | Over the last few years, Singapore’s rapid growth has been mostly driven by a massive increase in the workforce… But it is clear that growth powered by importing foreign labour is simply not sustainable. Citigroup economist, Kit Wei Zheng
Reducing the cost of living – the Lean way
Nov. 27 | Jeisilan Sivalingam How can we become more efficient and effective while at the same time reduce costs? In these incredibly tough budget times, you would think government agencies would be trying to emulate private enterprises and be working extra hard...
Civil servant pay should be “market competitive”: Manpower Minister
Nov. 27 | It has served us well thus far. We’ve been able to attract, retain and have a good civil service. Manpower Minister, Gan Kim Yong.
Recession in Singapore is over, says MTI
Nov. 19 | Effectively, the recession in Singapore is over. Ravi Menon, permanent secretary with the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The refugees of boom-and-bust
Nov. 10 | At TEDGlobal U, Cameron Sinclair shows the unreported cost of real estate megaprojects gone bust: thousands of migrant construction laborers left stranded and penniless. To his fellow architects, he says there is only one ethical response.
Higher incentives do not necessarily lead to higher performance
Aug. 28 | Financial incentives can result in a negative impact on overall performance. “Too many organisations are making decisions – their policies about talent and people – based on assumptions that are outdated, unexamined, and rooted more in folklore...
When the economy dives, the GST must too
Aug. 28 | Imran Ahmed / http://imranwrites.blogspot.com/ It is time for the government to consider lowering the GST rate in light of how it hurts the poor more than the rich. RECENT reports in the international media suggest that the US tax collector has received...
“Singaporeans are a happy lot” reports CNA – using 3-year old survey results
Aug. 24 | Singaporeans are generally a happy lot, especially when compared to people in countries such as China, Vietnam, Korea and Japan. … While Singaporeans are generally a happy lot, this survey was done in 2006… Channelnewsasia. (Why would CNA report...
Canadian tells S’poreans to “be grateful”
Jul. 31 | Andrew Loh / Contribution from Leong Sze Hian Click to enlarge / Straits Times, 31 July 2009 Mr Eric J Brooks is a happy man – happy with how Singapore is. In his letter to the Straits Times Forum Page on 31July, his effusive praise for the Singapore...
Create “Economic Recovery” jobs
Jun. 17 | Tan Kin Lian / Columnist Just pumping funds into the economy will not do. It is also important to curb unemployment, and Singapore can do this by creating new “Economic Recovery” jobs. Being an open economy, Singapore has been badly affected...
The cost of Singapore’s heavy export reliance
Jun. 13 | From AP: This speck on the map leapt from poverty to First World riches in a generation. Now its halcyon years of breakneck growth may be over. Ask none other than Lee Kuan Yew, the authoritarian statesman who oversaw Singapore’s transformation...
The fallacy of “growth at all costs” (part four)
May. 29 | Rajiv Chaudhry / Writer In this four-part series, Rajiv contends that Singapore’s current economic model of high growth, which has served the nation well in the past, is unsustainable for the future as it will undermine Singapore’s ability...
The fallacy of “growth at all costs” (part three)
May. 21 | Rajiv Chaudhry / Writer In this four-part series, Rajiv contends that Singapore’s current economic model of high growth, which has served the nation well in the past, is unsustainable for the future as it will undermine Singapore’s ability...
The fallacy of “growth at all costs” (part two)
May. 14 | Rajiv Chaudhry / Writer In this four-part series, Rajiv contends that Singapore’s current economic model of high growth, which has served the nation well in the past, is unsustainable for the future as it will undermine Singapore’s ability...
The fallacy of “growth at all costs” (part one)
May. 11 | Rajiv Chaudhry / Writer In this four-part series, Rajiv contends that Singapore’s current economic model of high growth, which has served the nation well in the past, is unsustainable for the future as it will undermine Singapore’s ability...
Economy – Singapore the worst performer in Asia
May. 6 | THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed its forecast for Singapore’s growth this year, saying the economy could decline 10 per cent to end up as the worst performer in Asia. Straits Times
V-shaped, U-shaped, L-shaped, deep U, fat U…
May. 2 | There is no V-shaped; now the optimistic scenario is a U-shaped recovery, a deep U, a fat U, and if we are lucky, gradually recovering from the later part of this year or early next year. But if we are not lucky, it could be an L-shaped problem –...
Stress lines
May. 2 | In a downturn, we are concerned that minorities, non-Chinese workers will be more affected because larger proportions of the Malay and Indian workers have lower skills and lower skilled workers are more vulnerable. PM Lee Hsien Loong
Will this be Singapore’s Lost Decade?
Apr. 25 | Announcement: All comments are now under moderation before they are allowed to appear on this website. This is due to some comments which are insensitive and inflammatory. Comments with derogatory remarks or words directed at people of religion will...
It does get worse
Apr. 17 | Despite the mainstream media’s spin, chances are that things will get worse The advance estimates of GDP figures released by the government on 14th April underscored the deteriorating economic situation in Singapore. The government had to revise –...
Worst set of economic data in history – but not as bad as it looks?
Apr. 15 | SINGAPORE on Tuesday released the worst set of economic data in the nation’s history… But economists say these grim figures largely reflect past trauma and do not necessarily mean the current economic situation is worsening significantly. Straits...
Singapore economy in record fall
Apr. 15 | From the BBC: Singapore’s economy shrank by 19.7% in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the previous three months, its biggest quarterly contraction on record. Official estimates also showed the economy had shrunk by 11.5% compared with the...
BBC: Singapore struggles with downturn
Mar. 19 | Breaking News: Ms Melanie Kirkpatrick, the deputy editor of the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page, was fined $10,000 for contempt of court by Justice Tay Yong Kwang on Thursday. (Straits Times) From the BBC, 18 March 2009:
US Fed chief says US recession will likely end this year, recovery next year
Mar. 16 | From AFP: In his first television interview, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke predicted that America’s worst recession in decades likely will end this year, and that the economic recovery would gather steam next year. —— The...
Singapore’s edge as a manufacturing hub
Mar. 10 | Andrew Ong Despite an expected slow recovery from the recession and the rise of business costs, it seems manufacturing in Singapore remains a vibrant and relevant industry. This article aims to present Singapore’s edge as a manufacturing hub that has...
Singapore can do better
Mar. 3 | Lee Weijia Coming from a former British colony, going on exchange to King’s College in London is a dream and a pilgrimage of sorts for me. After all, modern Singapore has its roots in the endeavours of an English man, Sir Stamford Raffles. Traces of...
Too much bad news
Jan. 31 | However, many of them felt that there are just too many negative reports about the economy in the media, especially the newspapers. The front pages have been carrying news of layoffs and companies going under, day after day. Lam Pin Min, P65 blog
POLL – Singapore seen emerging as Asia’s weakest economy
Dec. 11 | Note: Singapore was the first Asian country to go into a recession on 21 November 2008. (Read here: Singapore officially in recession – BBC). By Susan Fenton (Reuters) HONG KONG, Dec 11 (Reuters) – Singapore is poised to be emerging as Asia’s...
PM Lee prescribes bitter medicine – again
Nov. 29 | Mumbai terrorist attacks: A look at the confirmed foreigner deaths in Mumbai – Associated Press. Andrew Loh / Deputy Editor In February this year, I wrote a piece titled, Bitter medicine prescription – with a little spin thrown in. It was...
Bitter medicine in 2007, bitter pill in 2008
Nov. 28 | January 2007 Is it better to take your medicine sooner or stretch it out? Take medicine once or two times? I prefer to make (sic) my medicine early, why? This is something we need to do, once we have done it, we can move on; we have the resources to have...
SM Goh urges Singaporeans to “keep the economy going”
Nov. 7 | Breaking News: DBS cuts 900 jobs “to trim costs amid the global credit crisis”. (Channel NewsAsia) “If all of us go into a power save mode, then the economy will really go into a recession! This is what economists called the Paradox of Thrift....
Singapore – a timeless zone
Nov. 1 | Jack Sim / Guest Writer The trajectory of Singapore’s economic growth, since its independence, is a model of excellence. Witness its distribution of wealth, low crime rates, first-world living standards, good health and educational standards, almost...
