Learn Mandarin and breathe [less polluted] air

This is from the article, Teach your kids Mandarin, in The Straits Times.

WHEN asked for his advice on how to survive the financial crisis, global investment guru Jim Rogers often tells his interlocutors: 'Teach your children Mandarin.' The 66-year-old financial commentator has practised what he preaches, in 2007 selling his mansion in New York and moving his family to Singapore.
'I am (in Asia) because this is the exciting part of the world. This is the future, and I want my children to grow up knowing Asia, and knowing things Chinese,' he said during an interview from his exercise bike.

Indeed, he said his five-year-old daughter is now a fluent Mandarin speaker.

He had thought about moving to China or Hong Kong, but decided against it because of air pollution, adding: 'I don't want to breathe Hong Kong air.'

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What works for us may not work for US.

This is from the article, Making rush hour costly, by Maria L. La Gang in ChicagoTribune.com.

America's second-most-congested city wants to become the first to institute congestion pricing. The goal: Reduce downtown traffic, improve the environment and raise money for further transit fixes.

A similar effort failed in 2008 in New York.

London, Stockholm and Singapore already have drawn lines around key districts and charge drivers for entering at peak times. London officials believe their original system cut traffic by 21 percent and increased public transit use by 36 percent.

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Competitors from India coming

This is from the article, Mumbai improves ranking in attracting foreign investment, in The Economic Times.

In terms of overall ranking, Mumbai has been placed at 48th spot with London retaining the top slot as the global economy's most influential city, it said.

In addition to London, top five positions are occupied by New York, Tokyo, Singapore and Chicago.

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We are the third this time

This is from the article, The Hamilton: Upcoming condo equipped with garage in the sky, in Lushhome :: Online news and information on Singapore property market.

But when built, it will become the first residential high-rise in Singapore, and only the third in the world after developments in New York and Dubai, to have this vroom-with-a-view parking feature.

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Shopping around

This is from the article, NYC Shops Cater to Euro-Toting Tourists, by Eva Woo in BusinessWeek in relation to the recent decline of USD.

For economists, the tourism boom also drives home the broader forces at work behind the dollar's decline. Those same forces have led to a surge in foreign investment in the U.S. Big financial houses such as Citigroup (C) and Merrill Lynch (MER) recently raised billions from government funds in Kuwait, Singapore, Korea, and elsewhere. Foreign purchases of U.S. assets last year set a record of $405.7 billion, according to Thomson Financial (TOC), up 92% from $210.9 billion in 2006. The dollar's decline is "part of a broader adjustment needed to bring the U.S.'s trade deficit down," says Brad Setser, an international economics researcher at the Council on Foreign Relations.

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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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