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Friday, May 21, 2010




It’s official — Singapore is now the world’s most competitive nation.

In the latest edition of the World Competitiveness Yearbook released by the Lausanne-based Institute for Management Development (IMD), Singapore dethroned the United States from its 16-year reign at the top. Hong Kong comes in a close second after the Lion City.

The yearbook is widely regarded to be the most updated and comprehensive ranking of the management of governments, businesses, people and infrastructure in industrialised and emerging nations. 58 key countries are assessed based on 320 different criteria including economic performance, government and business efficiency, exports, level of corruption and infrastructure.

Under business efficiency, it listed key criteria such as productivity, labour market, finance, management practices as well as attitudes and values.

Switzerland, Australia, Sweden, Canada, Taiwan, Norway and Malaysia make up the Top 10 .

Stephane Garelli, Director of IMD’s World Competitiveness Centre, observed that while Asian nations were as badly-hit as others by the financial crisis, they had the ability to pull themselves out of recession much faster.

He tells TIME, “Singapore and Hong Kong suffered during the recession, but demonstrated a striking ability to rebound.”

Compared with the Western world, both countries are reaping the benefits of strong expansion in the surrounding Asian region, he adds.

He points out that during the first quarter of 2010, Singapore’s economy grew 13.1% and China’s 11.9%, while Europe struggled with a projected growth of only 1% this year.

As the largest industrialised nations like Japan, Germany and Great Britain continue to be saddled by debt, emerging economies like Brazil, Russia, India and China are becoming more robust.

“For the first time, the emerging economies seem to create an economic bloc, which becomes increasingly self-sufficient and encompasses markets with a growing middle class, raw materials, money and global brands,” Garelli says.


{ 10:57 PM }

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

About two weeks ago, Yahoo! Answers Singapore asked: Will Singaporeans be able to retire by the age of 60?". Majority of the posted replies were quite pessismistic about their prospects.No way, unless one marries rich or wins Toto, was an oft-cited response.

A good number of repiles pointed out that life in the city-state is all about debt-Singaporeans will have to work until they die to pay off their obligations. This perception, in my opinion, might be exaggerated, but the argument that debt may hold back retirement at 60 is hard to discount, especially now that prices of HDB flats have risen, and wages haven't exactly been up.

"Singaporeans' are all 'paper rich'. Almost everyone is in debt: Housing, Car, Study, etc..." said one reply that earned agreement from fellow posters. Another poster noted that Singaporeans incur debt starting from the time they study in University to the time they have to buy a house and a car.

The increasing cost of living in Singapore is frequently mentioned as a major constraint to achieving retirement goals. With exorbitant prices of HDB flats, I seriously doubt Singaporeans can think of retiring. Inflation is high and medical expenses are rising.

In my opinion, I think Singaporeans are not in any rush to retire at this point of time and situation.

{ 4:58 AM }

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

If you were to walk on the street and ask the first teenager you see about his or her favourite books they will probably mention that it will be the "Twilight" series or maybe even Harry Potter or probably some teenage drama books. Maybe one or two will say that they read the classics. Now, I should admit that before being hooked to classics I was an avid fan of the "Harry Potter" series.Maybe I still am..I don't really know. That was when I was 13.

Now, my favourite classics are from Jane Austen and they are particularly easy to read. Mansfield Park, Emma, Sense and Sensibility are just few of the books that Jane Austen wrote but my favourite one of them all is Pride and Prejudice. Before going on I would like to point out to those who have read the book that the qualities of thetitle are not exclusively assigned to one or the other of the protagonists; both Elizabeth Bennet and Mr.Darcy display pride and prejudice. To those who wish to start reading classics, I strongly recommend this book.

After getting comfortable with the classics, I moved on to read plays written by the famous William Shakespeare. He wrote many plays like Romeo And Juliet, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, The twelfth Night,etc.My favourite is Macbeth. Though it is a tragic story i really like because of its storyline. Macbeth has been compared to Shakespeare's Anthony and Cleopatra.
Both Antony and Macbeth as characters seek a new world, even at the cost of the old one. Both are fighting for a throne and have a 'nemesis' to face to achieve that throne. For Antony the
nemesis is Octavius, for Macbeth it is Banquo. At one point Macbeth even compares himself to Antony, saying "under Banquo / My Genius is rebuk'd, as it is said / Mark Antony's was by Caesar." Lastly, both plays contain powerful female figures: Cleopatra and Lady Macbeth.



I hope fellow teenagers will start reading classics because the classics are relevant to our current lives. I think most, if not all, classic books have been written about something that does not really change, a universal truth or question, like love, being yourself, standing up for what you believe in and accepting what is different. We can really relate these to our own lives.




{ 4:30 AM }

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Today was really tiring for me. Maybe that was because i was coughing for the whole day..hmm..I think it is really time to see the doc.

Anyway as I was reading news from the yahoo website as I got home, I came across this open question at the side of the home page. "Is Singlish
to blame for many Singaporeans' poor command for proper English?" I have always somethi
ng to say on this topic but I was curious on what the public thinks about this. The many comments have different opinions and I should say while reading the comments that not many people are on the same page as me on this topic.

Most comments highlighted the fact that Singlish is the identity of Singapore and it should not be criticised as there is nothing wrong in using it. Yes, there is nothing wrong in using singlish but using it frequently might grow into a habit one cannot come out from. I, personally do not like the idea of Singlish being the identity of Singapore. I do not know if this piece of information is true. I sincerely wish that it is not as I always believe in speaking good English.
However, I think that speaking a little Singlish once in a while is not wrong as long as it is not being overused.

The other day while I was travelling in the MRT train I was appalled to see that primary five and six students still have problems in using singular and plural verbs and proper tenses. I thought this should be already mastered in lower primary. As Singlish does not focus on tenses or grammar or any rule in English, I believe that the root problem of these students is that Singlish became a habit for them.

So is Singlish to blame for many Singaporeans' poor command of proper English? In my opinion, I definitely think so.



{ 7:29 AM }