A nation of foreigners in 11 years
Ng E-Jay / Current Affairs Desk, The Online Citizen
Monday, 22 June 2009
Half of Singapore’s population could consists of foreigners in 11 years time, if the government continues its current plan of attracting foreigners to feed its “growth-at-all-cost” economic model. This, couple with the low birth rate among locals, may result in unprecedented stress on our social fabric.
THE NATIONAL Population Secretariat announced on Wednesday that Singapore’s total population grew to 4.84 million in 2008, with the proportion of foreigners increasing to 25 percent.
Noting the challenges faced by families during the current downturn, the Secretariat reiterated the need to encourage marriage and parenthood, attract foreigners, and foster naturalisation and integration of new immigrants.
Finance Articles
Gold Market Update
(Source)
Gold broke down and went into decline, as predicted in the last update posted early this month. At that time our maximum downside target was the strong support in the $880 area, but now there are strong signs that the decline has either run its course, or is close to having done so, and that a breakout to new highs may be close at hand.
Voices of the People
Asia’s Sorry Human Rights Record
ALSO attached below: The US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report for 2009, with regards to Singapore.
Source: Asia Sentinel, 19 June 2009
Asian values apparently don’t protecting individuals from exploitation.
Asian governments variously proclaim commitment to Asian values, Confucian, Islamic or Marxist principles or the rule of statute law. Or all of them. But when it comes to human rights, to enforcing laws intended to protect individuals and families alike from exploitation, greed, slavery and discrimination somehow the values are forgotten in favor of money or convenience.
The latest report by the US State Department on Human Trafficking makes dismal reading, particularly for those countries which have the financial and governmental resources to do something about it which must include Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Macau.
Current Affairs & Politics
Birth rate continues its downward trend, a fresh look at our population problem is needed
Quick Snippets from the Editor
18 June 2009
It was reported in the Straits Times that Singapore’s birth rate dipped slightly to 1.28 last year, down a notch from 1.29 the previous year.
At the same time, the proportion of elderly folk aged 65 and above rose to 8.7 per cent last year, up from 6.8 per cent a decade ago.
These twin trends of low fertility and an ageing population were updates provided on Wednesday by the Government’s National Population Secretariat, which explained the need to continue working on long-term strategies to boost the population, including getting more Singaporeans to marry and procreate, and attracting foreigners here and helping them integrate into the society.
Voices of the People
Did the poor really progress?
Source: Straits Times, 17 June 2009
by Sue-Ann Chia, Senior Political Correspondent
A RECENT report by a ministerial committee found that low-wage workers have made ’significant progress’ in pay and prospects in recent years. Many analysts felt that broad summation deserved scrutiny.
Firstly, the indicators of progress the report highlighted may not have told the full story.
And secondly, the report provided a snapshot for a relatively short period – from 2006 to 2008, which happened to be good growth years. Hence, it did not capture how conditions have changed in the recession.
Straits Times: Why we covered Aware saga the way we did
Straits Times, 30 May 2009
ST link
By Han Fook Kwang, Editor
I HAD been reluctant to write this piece defending The Straits Times’ coverage of the Aware saga. Some of my colleagues had wanted the paper to put out its side of the story in the face of criticisms over how we covered the saga. But I wasn’t keen to make the paper the focus of this long-running debate, for I’ve always felt that newspapers shouldn’t be active players in the stories they cover. Our job is to report accurately and fairly what is happening and to make sense of it for our readers so they can draw their own conclusions. However, critics have assailed us over these very issues, and I have little choice now but to set out the facts concerning our coverage after two MPs spoke about it in Parliament this week.
On Tuesday, Nominated Member of Parliament Thio Li-ann said that reporting on the saga had been biased and lacked a diversity of views. She did not name The Straits Times but everyone listening to her would have concluded that she was referring to this newspaper.
Were we biased and one-sided in our coverage? This is best answered by detailing how we covered the story.
Finance
Gold Market Update by Clive Maund
Source: Clive Maund, 08 June 2009
Gold did embark on a new intermediate uptrend as predicted in the last Gold Market update posted towards the end of April, however, the uptrend was not as strong as expected and it failed to break out to new dollar highs and is now starting to weaken again without mounting a serious challenge of the highs first. This is bearish for the short to medium-term.
On the 6-month chart we can see the modest uptrend in force from the start of May and how it took the price up towards $1,000 again, resulting in a gain of about $100. Last week it showed signs of serious technical deterioration as it buckled beneath the resistance approaching $1,000. This was hardly surprising given that the oversold dollar bounced strongly from important support, a reversal that projects a dollar rally to higher levels. So far gold’s intermediate uptrend has not been violated, but the double “bearish engulfing pattern ” that showed up on the chart during last week does suggest that a breakdown is pending, that will be followed by a significant reaction, although the fast neutralizing RSI indicator does suggest that this breakdown will probably be preceded by a brief bounce early this week. How far will a reaction carry? – it is expected to take gold back towards, but not necessarily right down to the support zone shown on the chart in the $880 area.
The Correction Is Here
The Correction Is Here
By Helene Meisler
RealMoney.com Contributor
5/14/2009 5:02 AM EDT
URL: http://www.thestreet.com/p/rmoney/technicalanalysis/10500926.html
First of all it looks like we found a new indicator that few, if any, use. I’m talking about the put/call ratio of the CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, that we discussed here Tuesday. It is now four for four in its calls for the past 15 months. Let’s hope no one else gloms on to this indicator so we can continue to find it useful. 
But the big “news” is, as I posted in Columnist Conversation Wednesday, is that the indicators finally rolled over. We’ve discussed the McClellan Summation Index enough this week so I won’t harp on it again. Let’s just say that Nasdaq’s definitely ticked down more and it will now take quite a rally to turn it back up. The New York Stock Exchange only ticked down for the first time Wednesday.
Barack Obama
‘US is not at war with Islam’
ANKARA: US President Barack Obama, on his first official visit to a Muslim nation, declared yesterday that America ‘is not at war with Islam’ and called for greater partnership with the Islamic world.
Addressing the Turkish Parliament, he called the country an important United States ally and urged a greater bond between the US and the Muslim world.
He said the relationship between the US and Turkey, which has a secular government but a Muslim-majority population, had made the world ‘more secure’.
Obama offers Iran new beginning
Teheran welcomes overture, urges action
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama issued an unprecedented videotaped appeal to Iran yesterday offering a ‘new beginning’ of diplomatic engagement to turn the page on decades of US policy towards America’s longtime foe.
‘In this season of new beginnings, I would like to speak clearly to Iran’s leaders,’ Mr Obama said in the message released to coincide with an Iranian holiday celebration.
Media Articles
Malays in SAF: It concerns nation, not race
ST letter by Mr Osman Sidek, 01 July 2009
ST link
LAST Friday’s report, ‘Meet the SAF’s first Malay general’, referred to the disclosure in 1987 by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) of its cautious approach in placing Malays in key positions in the military.
Many pragmatic Malays appreciate this frankness and understand the SAF’s difficulty. Being a multiracial nation in a largely ethnic Malay region, Singapore’s defence is posed a major strategic problem when Malays are placed in key military positions, so the argument goes.
The sex divide across the Atlantic
Source: Straits Times, 01 July 2009
DISGRACED South Carolina governor Mark Sanford must wish he was Italian.
For, while Mr Sanford’s political life hangs by a thread because he was caught visiting a mistress while claiming to be on a mountaineering holiday, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has just shrugged off accusations of involvement in orgies with prostitutes without a dent to his popularity.
Why do American voters usually punish politicians caught with their trousers around their ankles, while their European counterparts seldom care? No conclusive answer can be provided of course, but there is no shortage of likely explanations.
Asia’s Sorry Human Rights Record
ALSO attached below: The US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report for 2009, with regards to Singapore.
Source: Asia Sentinel, 19 June 2009
Asian values apparently don’t protecting individuals from exploitation.
Asian governments variously proclaim commitment to Asian values, Confucian, Islamic or Marxist principles or the rule of statute law. Or all of them. But when it comes to human rights, to enforcing laws intended to protect individuals and families alike from exploitation, greed, slavery and discrimination somehow the values are forgotten in favor of money or convenience.
The latest report by the US State Department on Human Trafficking makes dismal reading, particularly for those countries which have the financial and governmental resources to do something about it which must include Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Macau.
Why men should not be entitled to alimony
Source: Straits Times, 22 June 2009
By Andy Ho, Senior Writer
LAST year, some 3,266 women had to turn to the courts to get their alimony orders enforced. With divorces and annulments rising from 5,825 in 2002 to 7,220 last year, this problem can only get worse.
But why alimony at all? While providing child support and splitting assets acquired during a marriage make obvious sense, lawyers say that there is no coherent theory why the law should burden men with obligations to their ex-wives.
Did the poor really progress?
Source: Straits Times, 17 June 2009
by Sue-Ann Chia, Senior Political Correspondent
A RECENT report by a ministerial committee found that low-wage workers have made ’significant progress’ in pay and prospects in recent years. Many analysts felt that broad summation deserved scrutiny.
Firstly, the indicators of progress the report highlighted may not have told the full story.
And secondly, the report provided a snapshot for a relatively short period – from 2006 to 2008, which happened to be good growth years. Hence, it did not capture how conditions have changed in the recession.
Singapore’s total population grew to 4.84m in 2008, up 5.5% over previous year
Source: Channel News Asia, 17 June 2009
SINGAPORE : Singapore continues to face the long-term challenge of low fertility and an ageing population, according to its latest population report.
But the record number of foreign residents in the country has helped grow the total population to 4.84 million in 2008 – an increase of 5.5 per cent over the previous year.
Foreigners now make up about 25 per cent of the total population.
MP Charles Chong speaks about integrating new migrants
Source: CNA, 16 June 2009
SINGAPORE: Five years ago, they were a rare sight in Punggol Central. These days, foreigners make up roughly 10 per cent of the estate’s residents, or so Mr Charles Chong reckons going by the number he meets on his door-to-door visits.
The ward’s Member of Parliament reckons they are flocking there for various reasons: It’s a new town, housing is cheaper compared to mature estates, and it is close to the new industrial areas that have sprouted up in the north-east.
While foreigners have added to the constituency’s vibrancy, integrating them has also become a priority. For instance, a Cricket Interest Group was formed to get new citizens involved in community events. Mr Chong suggested this after noticing migrant groups playing the sport in the empty fields across his estate, which has 48,000 residents.
Girding RI boys for a better age
FIFTY years ago, a teenager at Raffles Institution (RI) by the name of Goh Chok Tong got a measly two out of 10 marks for a General Paper essay.
The teacher who gave the score to the student who became Singapore’s prime minister and who is its current Senior Minister was Mr Eugene Wijeysingha. He went on to become RI’s headmaster between 1986 and 1994.
Now 75, Mr Wijeysingha has published a memoir, For A Better Age, a collection of his personal reflections on his 35 years in education, 16 of them at RI.
$800,000 in salary claims recovered
BARELY a month after becoming a father, a 36-year-old systems engineer was issued his marching orders without prior notice last December.
Adding to his woes, he was owed $6,000 – two months’ worth of pay – by his employer, who he claimed stonewalled his attempts to get the money.
He said: ‘It was a hit for me. I tried to tighten my belt, but I needed cash for my baby, the hospital bills and so on.’
Need to ensure secular space for all: Minister
Each S’porean must be given space to practise own religion without imposition of others’ views, says Lim Hwee Hua
By Yen Feng
SINGAPOREANS must guard the country’s secular space to ensure that trust, confidence and respect between people of different races and religions will continue to grow.
In making this call yesterday, Second Minister for Finance and Transport Lim Hwee Hua said having a common secular space would allow ‘each Singaporean the personal and private space to practise his own religion without having the views of others imposed upon him’.
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PM Lee's "fixing the Opposition" lunchtime election rally on 03 May 2006Global Stock Indices
This is me!
(Speaking at a forum organized by SG Human Rights held on 18 Nov 2007 in conjunction with the ASEAN Summit)
Proposals for Internet Freedom in Singapore
