http://www.staticvariable.net/wordpress Just working through the logic Thu, 10 Jun 2010 07:46:11 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A good day is sitting in a quiet cafe, great music coming out of the headphones and no more errands to run for the rest of the day. http://www.staticvariable.net/wordpress/?p=42 Something about the recent statement about the fact that HDB is affordable for the singles in their 30's irked me. Link here http://singaporeenquirer.sg/?p=4619. Of course his idea of "affordable" is that the person in question spends 29% of his income on housing. But even his calculations are misguided. In order to ... http://www.staticvariable.net/wordpress/?p=40 Singapore has always looked upon Japan as it's developmental role model. Maybe not explicitly, due to WWII sensitivities. But our economic and social policies have been a carbon copy of what Japan has implemented themselves since the war. And it has been a sucessful one, enabling Japan to go from post war ... http://www.staticvariable.net/wordpress/?p=39 Seems like after after 5 sessions of the stock market rally, the bulls are back to play, and you can't turn anywhere without someone telling you that if you don't buy now, you'll miss the boat. Just 2weeks back, all major news sources were still busy tripping over themselves trying to come ... http://www.staticvariable.net/wordpress/?p=37 With all the recent budget talk, one fact that jumped out at me was that  in the last decade, Singapore has had 4 recessions. We've had the 97/98 Asian financial crisis, the 2001 Dotcom burst, SARS in 03 and now the credit crisis in 07. 4 recessions in the span ... http://www.staticvariable.net/wordpress/?p=35 Where do I want to live? I've come to the conclusion a long time ago that Singapore is a good place to work in but not great for a good living. I can fully understand the influx of expatriates into Singapore, because as a place to work it has a lot going ... http://www.staticvariable.net/wordpress/?p=33 Seems like it never just rains, it pours. If you're in the Singapore government, it must have been a bad few months. You gave yourself a big time pay rise at the beginning of the year on the basis of your brilliant economic management. Then you had to spend the rest of ... http://www.staticvariable.net/wordpress/?p=30 "Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, urging those with the means to continue spending, or the economy 'will really go into a recession' " - Straits Times 07 Nov 08 So what do you call contraction for 9 out of the last 12 months? Talk about shifting the blame, so if we ... http://www.staticvariable.net/wordpress/?p=31 As words like global financial crisis, credit squeeze, bank rescues get thrown around more and more often. There is no dooubt now that we're in a global recession scenario. The only question left is just how bad it'll get. It's interesting that on the same day, while the PM tells us ... http://www.staticvariable.net/wordpress/?p=28 "The global financial crisis came without warning, like a tsunami" SM Goh 19 Oct 08, Straits Times This from the head of the MAS. If Singapore is supposed to be a financial hub, how could the central bank not be aware that the banks operating on it's shores have been struggling ... http://www.staticvariable.net/wordpress/?p=27