Don't want, or don't need to subsidize?

This is from the article, BN not cobbled together for political expediency, in The New Straits Times Online by Hardev Kaur about the coming election in Malaysia.

The world trade talks under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation are stalled, if not dead. Protectionist sentiments are on the rise; so, too, inflation pressures. In Singapore, consumer prices are at their highest since 1982. In other countries in the region - Thailand and Indonesia - they are at a multi-year high and prices are rising faster than interest rates.

Malaysia, which is one of the most open economies and highly dependent on trade, has been able to stand up well. Government policies and subsidies have cushioned much of the price rises. The government spends some RM81 billion on various subsidies, including food and fuel.

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Wandering alone in a variety of spirituality

This is from the article, The Community of More, a personal story by Bill Ashlock in FAITH HOUSE Manhattan blog.

Today my life floats between California (my home of homes), Singapore (my home of work), and New York City (my home of hope). In Singapore, I am energized by the confluence of cultures, spirituality, and people. It is a wonderful mix. Individuals, religious thoughts, and institutions respected and held in honor. Yet, people still wander alone.

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Rush, but don't rush madly

This is from the the article, Abuse On Women- Whose Fault? in CounterCurrents.org by Stree Mukti.

Culture, Mr Chairperson we are sure you will agree, is not only about language, dress, food or rituals… it is also about how one generation facilitates and works to help the next generation to live in harmony and in peace. Do you ever wonder whether we are doing this for our coming generation in our mad rush to "develop" and become a Singapore or an America in the shortest possible period?

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Becoming a world financial power

This is from the article, Kuwait's role to promote media outshines others in Gulf region, in the Arab Times, Kuwait News.

'With the current turbulences of the stock markets, Kuwait, like Singapore, is now ready to become not only an oil power but a world financial power. The country gives as well the feeling that it invests money with a very accurate sense of opportunity, avoiding wastes and useless showoffs,' said Mettan.

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Human rights is but one of the many type of rights

This is from the article, The penalty of death, in the Jamaica Gleaner about high murder rate by Robert Buddan.

... The United Nations introduced a resolution for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty in December 2007. One hundred and four countries supported the resolution, with 54 voting against and 29 abstaining.

[...]

Singapore, a country which many admire for its tough discipline, say that its opposition to the death penalty was on grounds of criminal justice and was not seen as a human rights issue the way it is in Europe. This is how the Caribbean sees it as well.

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Nigeria = "please reply urgent" emails?

This is from the article, When ‘they’ think ‘Nigeria’, what do they think? in "Nigeria's most influential and respected daily business newspaper" (as claimed in their website) by Tolu Ogunlesi. It is asking the big question, "Can the government of Nigeria succeed in selling Nigeria without the consent and support of Nigerians?"

Imagine for a second that you were not Nigerian. That instead, you came from Australia, or Singapore, or Luxembourg, and that you had never left your country before.
But you had access to CNN, and to the internet, and to magazines like Time, Newsweek and the Economist. [...]

It's very likely that you'd assume the following about Nigeria : Nigeria is a country/tribe/ethnic group/township in Africa , so there's probably a war or wars going on there (A lot of Hotel Rwandas and Blood Diamonds).

Like all African countries, it must have loads of poor folks - fly-swathed, [... bunch of poor stuffs].

HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Ebola, Poor them. [... some stuffs on language and oil]

Relatives of their dead politicians (who always seem to be dying either in car accidents or violent coup plots) love to send emails chock-full of multimillion-dollar business proposals and with titles like "Urgent Urgent" and "Please Reply ASAP". [...]

There's a long queue of them in the Sahara, stretching from their border, headed Europe-wards...

The truth, sadly, is that there is (some) truth to most, if not all, of the above. But the truth again is that there is yet another truth, which is this: there is more to Africa, and Nigeria, than money-laundering politicians, gun-running warlords and "please reply urgent" emails.

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An approach to tackle manpower shortage

This is from the article, Robot arms race seen underway, where an expert calls for international discussion on robotic weapons.

Sev­er­al na­tions are de­vel­op­ing ro­bot weapons, with the Un­ited States in the lead, ...

Can­a­da, South Ko­rea, South Af­ri­ca, Sin­ga­pore, Is­ra­el, Chi­na, some Euro­pean coun­tries, Rus­sia and In­dia are al­so get­ting in on the ro­bot-weapons act, Sharkey added, with these last two de­vel­op­ing un­manned aer­i­al com­bat ve­hi­cles.

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Adopting Jamaica's programmes in 1970's

This is from the article, Unspeakable treachery, about Barack Obama by Dawn Ritch in the Jamaica Gleaner.

When Michael Manley took over the government of Jamaica in l972, Jamaica's economy was one of the fastest growing in the world, and Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore was adopting our programmes. Now we're killing each other and selling cigarettes by the side of the road, while Singapore has become a First World country.

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World's largest container port hub

This is from the article, The New Silk Road and Ibn Battuta, in The Daily Reckoning by Chris Mayer about shipping.

Shipping companies are actively pursuing new routes. Perhaps through the ice-free Arctic passages, as I've written to you about before. Right now, Singapore is still king. It is the world's largest container port hub. Singapore, sitting in the Strait of Malacca, is the hinge that links Asia's shipping lanes with Europe. (I'd love to get to Singapore sometime in 2008.) Some of the excess may bleed into airfreight. China alone plans 48 new airports over the next decade, to add to its current total of 130. It's been called the "Silk Road in the sky."

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