Singapore is one of only two countries in the world with more than half the workforce (51%) engaged in knowledge-intensive jobs. Only Barbados has more (57.58%).
Wednesday, April 10, 2013 By
Lee Kuan Yew and Margaret Thatcher
An amazing parallel runs through the political careers of Lee Kuan Yew, the first prime minister of the Republic of Singapore, and Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first woman prime minister. Both began their political career at the same time and stepped down as prime minister on the same day.
Both laid down their office on November 28, 1990. Both were succeeded by their deputies: Goh Chok Tong became prime minister of Singapore, and John Major of Britain.Continue Reading
Monday, April 8, 2013 By
Singapore education strides since foreign influx
Tertiary education has taken a big leap forward in Singapore since the influx of foreigners. University graduates make up 23 per cent of the resident population, up from 12 per cent a decade ago, and more Singaporeans are going for higher education.
According to the Ministry of Education data catalogue, 72 per cent of the eligible age group was enrolled for tertiary education in 2011, up from 45.3 per cent in 2000. The growth in tertiary education has coincided with the foreign influx.
Thursday, April 4, 2013 By
Encore for the oldie
Wow! This guy can sing. He may be old, but what a voice! And the way he can stretch his notes, making them quiver with emotion.
Even the Righteous Brothers would have been impressed with this grandfather’s version of Unchained Melody. That’s what this video is called: Grandfather Sings. (See the full video.)Continue Reading
Wednesday, April 3, 2013 By
You never can tell who will tell you the news
You never know who will be the first to give you the news in this world of social media.
The first report on President Barack Obama’s meeting with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong came not from the White House or the Singapore government or Singapore media.
And it wasn’t the Singapore media or a major broadcaster or wire service that first reported Singapore had voted in favour of a global arms trade treaty.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013 By
PM Lee looks forward to Freedom in Singapore
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in the White House that he was looking forward to the arrival of this US naval vessel in Singapore.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013 By
Singapore votes for global arms trade treaty
Singapore and Malaysia have voted for a global arms trade treaty, passed with an overwhelming majority by the United Nations General Assembly.
India, Indonesia, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Sri Lanka and Myanmar were among the countries that abstained from voting.
Countries that abstained from voting
Friday, March 29, 2013 By
Fertile Singaporean fairy tales
Smart, viral, and broody as hens. That I guess sums up the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information students at Nanyang Technological University who came up with The Singaporean Fairytale website, which is attracting notice even in America.
It shows real creativity, promoting marriage and childbirth in terms of fairy tales in late-marrying, baby-shy Singapore. But are the girls — for there are girls involved — also thinking about the use-by date of their ovaries?
Golden Goose
How else did the golden goose land up on the website with reflections on its ability to lay eggs?Continue Reading
Thursday, March 21, 2013 By
Lee Kuan Yew and the power of one
I am disappointed that the Straits Times did not give a full report of Lee Kuan Yew’s talk at the Standard Chartered Singapore Forum yesterday where he shared the stage with the former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker.
The two reports on the Straits Times’ page 3 did not mention what he said when asked about China-India relations. You can see it in this video, shown on the Straits Times’ own website.
India does not have the same dynamism as China for many reasons, he said. “First, because they are not one nation, they are multiple nations.” India does not have “one cohesive core, as you have in China”.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013 By
Stiglitz praises Singapore and his Singapore students
Kishore Mahbubani recently asked in an article if Singapore is a butterfly or a frog. I see Singapore as a beautiful butterfly, but opinion seems divided. For a little, clean and green city-state, Singapore raises an awful lot of dust by way of controversy.
Read Joseph Stiglitz’s article praising Singapore in the New York Times. I saw nearly 200 comments both for and against what the professor said.
A reader correctly pointed out Singapore’s Gini coefficient – a measure of economic inequality – is higher than America’s. For an economist not to mention that is surprising, especially in an article on inequality “Singapore’s lessons for an unequal America” – that’s the headline of the article.
But Stigliitz rightly highlights what the government is doing to reduce inequality. He holds up Singapore as a model for America to follow.
And, oh by the way, the Columbia University professor, who has taught at Yale, Stanford, Duke, Oxford and Princeton, says: “Some of my brightest students came from Singapore.”
