Dec 04, 2014
By Aw Cheng Wei
He refused to get a job after his timber business failed in the 1980s, so Mr Saw's wife and three children supported him for 30 years.
But after he killed himself in June last year, the 63-year-old left all $37,000 in his Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings to a woman from China he met in a bar, something his family found out only while clearing out his belongings. His widow, 61, tried to appeal in court, which cost her $30,000 in legal fees. Not only did she lose the suit, but she also has to pay $7,000 in court fees.
[$37k in CPF, $30k in legal fees. $7k in court fees. Coincidence? Check if 3737 is winning 4D number this weekend!]
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Foreign policy of fear is crippling the US
DECEMBER 4
Flying into New York the other day, I got my first good look at the Freedom Tower, now known as 1 World Trade Center, the skyscraper that sits atop 9/11’s Ground Zero. It does, indeed, scrape the sky, topping out at a patriotic 1,776 feet (540m).
Thirteen years after 9/11, I appreciate the nationalist pride that, while terrorists can knock down our buildings, we can just build them right back up. Take that, Osama bin Laden.
If only the story ended there. Alas, bin Laden really did mess us up, and continues to do so. We have erased the ruins of the World Trade Center, but the foreign policy of fear that 9/11 instilled is still very much inside us — too much so.
Flying into New York the other day, I got my first good look at the Freedom Tower, now known as 1 World Trade Center, the skyscraper that sits atop 9/11’s Ground Zero. It does, indeed, scrape the sky, topping out at a patriotic 1,776 feet (540m).
Thirteen years after 9/11, I appreciate the nationalist pride that, while terrorists can knock down our buildings, we can just build them right back up. Take that, Osama bin Laden.
If only the story ended there. Alas, bin Laden really did mess us up, and continues to do so. We have erased the ruins of the World Trade Center, but the foreign policy of fear that 9/11 instilled is still very much inside us — too much so.
Retirement - Harsh Truths
Dec 03, 2014
PM Lee shares article on ensuring retirement adequacy: live on less, work longer or save more
By Rachel Au-Yong
SINGAPORE - There are only three solutions to a pension system's challenges, concludes an Economist article that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong shared in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
In his summary of the article, about the challenges the American pension system faces, Mr Lee said: people must either live on less during retirement, work longer and retire later, or save more of their salary while working.
PM Lee shares article on ensuring retirement adequacy: live on less, work longer or save more
By Rachel Au-Yong
SINGAPORE - There are only three solutions to a pension system's challenges, concludes an Economist article that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong shared in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
In his summary of the article, about the challenges the American pension system faces, Mr Lee said: people must either live on less during retirement, work longer and retire later, or save more of their salary while working.
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Japan faces tricky entry into world arms market
Dec 03, 2014
BY INVITATION
Japanese weapons are now for sale globally; defence firms face opportunities and challenges
By Narushige Michishita,
For The Straits Times
ON NOV 12, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation, including the possible transfer of technologies for Australia's future submarine programme.
Australia is currently investigating how to procure 12 new submarines to replace its ageing Collins-class submarines, and Japan's Soryu-class submarine has become a candidate.
The Soryu-class is the largest diesel-engine submarine in the world, equipped with the cutting-edge air-independent propulsion system which enables it to remain submerged for weeks rather than days.
If Australia decides to use the Soryu-class submarines, it will be a win-win-win deal in which Japan can sell its products, Australia can acquire the world's best non-nuclear submarines, and the two countries' navies will become highly interoperable.
BY INVITATION
Japanese weapons are now for sale globally; defence firms face opportunities and challenges
By Narushige Michishita,
For The Straits Times
ON NOV 12, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation, including the possible transfer of technologies for Australia's future submarine programme.
Australia is currently investigating how to procure 12 new submarines to replace its ageing Collins-class submarines, and Japan's Soryu-class submarine has become a candidate.
The Soryu-class is the largest diesel-engine submarine in the world, equipped with the cutting-edge air-independent propulsion system which enables it to remain submerged for weeks rather than days.
If Australia decides to use the Soryu-class submarines, it will be a win-win-win deal in which Japan can sell its products, Australia can acquire the world's best non-nuclear submarines, and the two countries' navies will become highly interoperable.
Snapshots - Carbon Emissions
From an AP news article on climate, this excerpt about carbon emissions.
Comment:
China with almost 1.4b people now emits 11 billion tons of carbon.
US with 300 million people (1/4 of China's population) puts out 5.8 billion tons. More than half what China puts out.
Europe with 750 million people emits 3.8 billion tons. That is actually quite good for an industrialised region.
India, with almost 1.3 billion people only puts out 2.6 billion tons.
On a per capita basis, India is lowest at 2 tons per person (approx.).
Europe is 5 tons.
US is about 16 tons per person.
China by comparison, is only about 8 tons per person.
According to this list, Singapore puts out about 7 tons per capita in 2008. Down from 15.6 tons in 1990.
China's tripling of emissions still puts them at the 55th position, or just slightly higher than Singapore.
The US is ranked 12th with 17.2 tons per capita.
Canada is not far behind at 14th with 15.2 tons.
Australia, at 11th, is ranked higher than the US. It puts out 18.3 tons per person.
"China has tripled its emissions from 3 billion tons to 11 billion tons a year. The emissions from the US have gone up more slowly, about 6 per cent, from 5.4 billion tons to 5.8 billion tons. India also has tripled its emissions, from 860 million tons to 2.6 billion tons. Only European countries have seen their emissions go down, from 4.5 billion tons to 3.8 billion tons."
Comment:
China with almost 1.4b people now emits 11 billion tons of carbon.
US with 300 million people (1/4 of China's population) puts out 5.8 billion tons. More than half what China puts out.
Europe with 750 million people emits 3.8 billion tons. That is actually quite good for an industrialised region.
India, with almost 1.3 billion people only puts out 2.6 billion tons.
On a per capita basis, India is lowest at 2 tons per person (approx.).
Europe is 5 tons.
US is about 16 tons per person.
China by comparison, is only about 8 tons per person.
According to this list, Singapore puts out about 7 tons per capita in 2008. Down from 15.6 tons in 1990.
China's tripling of emissions still puts them at the 55th position, or just slightly higher than Singapore.
The US is ranked 12th with 17.2 tons per capita.
Canada is not far behind at 14th with 15.2 tons.
Australia, at 11th, is ranked higher than the US. It puts out 18.3 tons per person.
Oil - Falling Prices, Mixed Fortunes
EDITORIAL
Better for all if oil markets are stable
DEC 1, 2014
LAST week's refusal by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) to cut production, in spite of a supply glut and falling prices, underscores the complicated dynamics of oil markets. It is a significant shift in oil geostrategy, compared to when Opec and Saudi Arabia, the biggest producer, called the shots. With weakening global demand, greater competition among producers, and the shale revolution in the United States, oil price is said to now hinge on the marginal cost of non-Opec production - much higher for deep-water and shale oil compared to conventional crude from the Middle East and North Africa.
Crude oil prices have fallen by more than a third since June and the organisation's capitulation to market forces, instead of a customary ability to set the terms of business in the oil bazaar, has raised questions about the relevance of Opec, which accounts for a third of the world's oil production.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
China has wasted S$8.9t in investment, say researchers
November 29
BEIJING — “Ghost cities” lined with empty apartment blocks, abandoned highways and mothballed steel mills are sprawled across China’s landscape — the outcome of government stimulus measures and hyperactive construction that have generated US$6.8 trillion (S$8.9 trillion) in wasted investment since 2009, based on a report by government researchers.
In 2009 and last year alone, “ineffective investment” amounted to nearly half of the total invested in the Chinese economy in those years, showed the research by Mr Xu Ce of the National Development and Reform Commission, the state planning agency, and Ms Wang Yuan from the Academy of Macroeconomic Research, a former arm of the NDRC.
China is this year on track to grow at its slowest annual pace since 1990, and the report highlights growing concern in the Chinese leadership about the potential economic and social consequences if wasteful investment leaves projects abandoned and bad loans overloading the financial system.
The bulk of wasted investment went directly into industries such as steel and automobile production, which received the most support from the government following the 2008 global crisis, said the report.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)