Singapore - Economic Data & News 01 (May 08 - Jul 08)

[helios]

Yucks... someone is pooping all over the place..

yes, i was looking at the article, how could this happen in singapore waters?
could be vibrio spp. that's why it was not revealed (and cannot be revealed).

- Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium in the same family as those that cause cholera. It normally lives in warm seawater and is part of a group of vibrios that are called "halophilic" because they require salt.

- very toxic, very rare to happen.

[HengHeng]

i thot seawater is anti bateria ?

Anyway if really wanna depend on garmen die lah ..

Well i don't even know why i pay so much tax

ERP(amk to city hall on peak hrs 10 bucks) , GST <-- heard going to be revised to 10% in par with european , Income tax , Fuel tax , Electric bill tarriffs etc etc.

Haiz , frankly speaking the old folks which give their all to the economy and those are the people which helped build the nation one way or another but now?

Those people sitting under the shade aren't recognising those facts and are only interested in enriching their own pockets while doing a lousy job in helping the people. And we are paying them millions of dollars?

Just imagine they are pegging their "pay" to private sector but not pegging their performance to it.

haiz .. jia lat lah .. lol .. anyway sooner or later this resentments in treating its citizens stupid would backfire and when that happens i thnk alot of those fellows will get it.

[kennynah]

yea. Just now Chiron said sea salt can be good cure. So next time eat ocean fish n not those from wells n rivers

[millionairemind]

IMO, public transport companies like SBS and SMRT should never be profit orientated... but then hor, that is just my opinion cos' the gahmen makes more money this way

I wonder if any of the ministers (esp. Raymond Lim) take the SMRT/BUS for 2 months in a roll, live on a pay of $2000/month with 3 young children, a wife and 2 aged parents to take care of in order to feel the effects before implementing any policies at all?

Transport Minister Lim discourages quick fixes to address people's concerns
By S.Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 30 July 2008 2208 hrs

SINGAPORE: Transport Minister Raymond Lim has spoken against going for popular and quick fixes when seeking to address the concerns and anxieties of Singaporeans at times of economic stress, as these could worsen the underlying problems.

He said the key is to find better ways to address these problems.

Speaking at the Berita Harian Achiever of the Year Award event on Wednesday, he explained that helping those in need could be accomplished in ways other than to control prices and keep out the competition.

He said: "The government's approach is to provide targeted help to needy families to cope with these general cost pressures through measures such as Growth Dividends, GST Credits and Workfare Income Supplement.

“Unlike wage and price controls, such measures do not lead to a fall in production and help raise the standard of living of low income workers without discouraging firms from hiring them."

Mr Lim touched on the recent Parliament sitting where he was asked whether the government could freeze Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) rates until the cost of living stabilised.

But he warned that if Singapore's roads are not priced correctly through the ERP, the overall costs to Singapore as a whole would go up and not down.

These costs would be hidden in the form of time lost and extra fuel consumed being stuck in traffic.

Mr Lim stressed that if Singapore froze ERP, congestion on the roads would increase.

This would not only affect individual motorists, who would spend more time in traffic, but all other road users like buses, taxis and commercial vehicles as well.

Mr Lim is confident that Singapore will ride out the current economic difficulties.

He said that's because the country has, through the years in good and bad times, steadfastly built a market economy that has the flexibility to absorb external shocks. - CNA/vm

[kennynah]

this fella was the failed entrepreneur ministar, right? long time no hear from him, after his endless yaking abt that topic...ask a public servant to talk abt doing business....yeah...

now took over mabok tan as transport ring leader ah ?

[millionairemind]

Singapore's unemployment rate rises to 2.3% in Q2
Posted: 31 July 2008 1154 hrs

SINGAPORE: Singapore's unemployment rate rose to 2.3 per cent in the second quarter after seasonal adjustments amid economic uncertainties, according to estimates from the Ministry of Manpower.

For the second consecutive quarter, the overall jobless rate climbed from a seasonally adjusted 1.7 per cent in December to 2.0 per cent in March and further to 2.3 per cent in June.

An estimate of 60,900 residents were unemployed in the second quater of this year.

There were also fewer jobs in the period from April to June.

Employment grew by 70,600 in the second quarter, slightly lower than the increase of 73,200 in the preceding quarter but higher than the 64,400 from the same period a year ago.

The rise on-year was driven by robust expansion in building activities, and employment in the construction sector grew up a record 22,100 in the April to June period.

Services added 37,600 workers in the same period, down from gains of 46,500 from the previous quarter but higher on year.

The manufacturing sector posted gains of 10,200, down from the increase of 11,800 in the first quarter.

Retrenchment has eased to the same level as a year ago at estimates of 1,900 workers, after rising for two consecutive quarters.

More information is available at http://www.mom.gov.sg/mrsd/publication

- CNA/yb

[-dol-]

this fella was the failed entrepreneur ministar, right? long time no hear from him, after his endless yaking abt that topic...ask a public servant to talk abt doing business....yeah...

now took over mabok tan as transport ring leader ah ?

Did not know he has an entrepreneurial streak in him. Understand he was once churning out research reports in some bank.

I like MM's suggestion about making them try out the transport system for themselves. To that, I would also recommend that the managements of ComfortDelgro and SMRT take public transport to work everyday. Nothing beats eating your own cooking.