All about what is happening in the global economy...
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UncleLim:
My guess is he is is not local.MadScientist:
[quote=\"Alejandro\"]Borrow Borrow Borrow! this is the social behavior which has ruined our nation and now we are standing at verge of worst financial crisis in history of our country and there are no guarantees that we will survive during this crisis and come out as united nation again.
Are you speaking as an American or a Singaporean?
[/quote]Thing is... I am local and that statement is kinda relevant on many levels
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Note that since last Thursday, things appear once again, grim at best...
Story from Bloomberg
Stocks Drop as Dollar, German Bunds Gain on U.S., Europe Concern
Asian Stocks, Oil Drop as Dollar Climbs on Concerns
Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks fell for a third day, while oil slid after U.S. job growth stalled last month and amid concern Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis will worsen. The Dollar Index headed for its longest winning streak in eight months and German bunds advanced, driving 10-year yields to a record low.
The MSCI All Country World Index sank 1.2 percent at 4:04 p.m. in Tokyo. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures slid 0.6 percent, after the gauge’s 2.5 percent drop on Sept. 2 in the U.S., where markets are closed today for a holiday. Crude lost 1.4 percent in New York. The dollar climbed 0.4 percent to $1.4152 against the euro. The yield on German 10-year bunds reached a low of 1.967 percent.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. paced losses in Asia after the chipmaker said its customers’ confidence in the global economic recovery is weakening. A report on Sept. 2 showed payrolls were unchanged last month, and data tomorrow may that show the U.S. service industries grew at the slowest pace in more than a year. An election loss for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party in her home state fueled concern opposition is growing to bailouts for debt-saddled European nations.
Asian Stocks Drop for Second Day
The recent data confirmed “that the U.S. economy had slowed down in the last quarter and with all the political uncertainty, really hit a wall in August,” Sean Fenton, who helps manage about $1 billion at Tribeca Investment Partners in Sydney, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “And given the uncertainty in Europe, the real question now is: does that soft patch extend further, and how serious has been the impact on businesses and consumers?”
The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 1.8 percent after only nine of its members posted gains. It plunged 2.4 percent on Sept. 2. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 2.6 percent, set for the biggest drop since Aug. 19. The Asian gauge is valued at 11.9 times estimated earnings, after reaching a 33-month low of 11.8 times last month.
Asian Stocks Slump
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.8 percent, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index retreated 2.4 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi Index was the region’s worst performer, down 4.4 percent. Investors should be “underweight” in global equities, UBS AG said in a report.
Komatsu Ltd. sank 5.4 percent in Tokyo after Citigroup Inc. cut its rating on the world’s second-largest maker of construction and mining equipment. Taiwan Semiconductor lost 1.3 percent after Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Morris Chang said the weakening global economy will impact the chip market.
Cnooc Ltd., China’s largest offshore energy explorer, dropped 9.6 percent after oil leaks at a field operated by partner ConocoPhillips forced the company to cut its output estimate. Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., which owns ports in Germany and Spain, sank 2.5 percent. Shares of the two companies also trade today without the right to a dividend payment.
China Services
Commodity suppliers and shipping companies declined after a Chinese services-industry index fell to a record low of 50.6 in August, fueling concern growth in the world’s fastest-growing major economy is slowing. The Shanghai Composite Index retreated 2 percent.
The S&P 500 slumped 2.5 percent on Sept. 2, dragging the gauge to a 0.2 percent weekly loss, after the Labor Department reported the weakest payrolls reading since September 2010. The median economist forecast was for growth of 68,000. Treasury 10- year notes surged after the report, sending yields 14 basis points lower to 1.99 percent. There will be no trading of Treasuries for the Labor Day holiday today.
“It was a scary report,” said Dan North, chief U.S. economist at Euler Hermes ACI in Owings Mills, Maryland in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “When you get to negative job growth, which we’re very close to now, it means you’re already in a recession.”
Obama’s Plan
President Barack Obama is set to address Congress Sept. 8 to outline plans for boosting hiring and economic growth as Republicans criticize him for his policies, including rules and regulations on business.
The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index fell to 51 last month, the lowest since January 2010, from 52.7 in July, according to the median of 59 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey ahead of the Sept. 6 release. A reading of 50 is the dividing line between expansion and contraction.
The Dollar Index rose 0.3 percent, set for its first five- day winning streak since Jan. 7. The U.S. currency climbed to the highest since Aug. 11 versus the euro. Europe’s shared currency weakened 0.5 percent to 108.53 yen.
The Social Democrats, Germany’s main opposition party, took 36.1 percent to win yesterday’s election in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, while Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union had 23.3 percent, ZDF television projections showed. The result means Merkel’s national coalition has been defeated or lost votes in all six German state elections so far this year as voters resist her bid to prevent a euro-region breakup by putting more taxpayer money on the line for bailouts.
‘Risk-Off Scenario’
European sovereign-debt risk rose to a record on Sept. 2, amid bickering over Greece’s bailout. The world economy is entering a “new danger zone” amid Europe’s debt difficulties, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said in Beijing on Sept. 3.
“The U.S. economy is sluggish, the European debt concern is not going away in a hurry, so market sentiment is not going to improve for a very long time,” said Alex Sinton, a senior dealer at ANZ National Bank Ltd. in Auckland, New Zealand. “This week is certainly a risk-off scenario.”
Strikes in Italy
The yield on 10-year Italian bonds climbed 10 basis points to 5.38 percent today. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi faces down a general strike tomorrow as he seeks parliamentary backing for a 45.5 billion-euro ($65 billion) austerity plan to show investors he’s serious about taming Italy’s finances.
Britons’ confidence in the outlook for employment weakened “sharply” in August as the number of job vacancies declined, Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets said today. The pound weakened 0.4 percent to $1.6152, adding to the 0.9 percent retreat last week, its biggest weekly loss since June.
The won depreciated 0.6 percent to 1,068.84 per dollar, the most in two weeks. Malaysia’s ringgit weakened 0.5 percent to 2.9795 against the U.S. currency. Data today may show inflation accelerated in Indonesia and Taiwan, while a separate report this week may indicate consumer prices climbed at a slower pace in China, according to Bloomberg News surveys.
The Markit iTraxx Asia index of 50 investment-grade borrowers outside Japan increased to 160.5 basis points, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc prices show. The risk benchmark is headed for its highest close since Aug. 26, after dropping 8.6 basis points last week, according to data provider CMA, which is owned by CME Group Inc. and compiles credit-default swap prices quoted by dealers in the privately negotiated market.
Oil, Metals
Oil for October delivery fell as much as 1.6 percent to $85.04 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange before trading at $85.07. The contract dropped 2.8 percent to $86.45 on Sept. 2. There will be no Nymex floor trading today.
Crude also slipped as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc returned workers to some oil and natural gas platforms after Tropical Storm Lee moved out of the Gulf of Mexico. The storm shut 60 percent of Gulf oil production and 44 percent of natural gas output, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.
Copper for three-month delivery retreated as much as 0.9 percent to $8,990.25 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, extending a two-day loss. Nickel slipped 0.7 percent, aluminum lost 0.6 percent, while tin dropped 1.2 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Shiyin Chen in Singapore at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at [email protected] -
http://www.cnbc.com/id/44419154//
Soros: Crisis 'Worse Than Lehmans'The New York Times | 07 Sep 2011 | 01:14 AM ET
Remember the collapse of Lehman Brothers? Europeans certainly do. As Europe struggles to contain its government debt crisis, the greatest fear is that one of the Continent’s major banks may fail, setting off a financial panic like the one sparked by Lehman’s bankruptcy in September 2008.
European policy makers, determined to avoid such a catastrophe, are prepared to use hundreds of billions of euros of bailout money to prevent any major bank from failing.
But questions continue to mount about the ability of Europe’s banks to ride out the crisis, as some are having a harder time securing loans needed for daily operations.
American financial institutions, seeking to inoculate themselves from the growing risks, are increasingly wary of making new short-term loans in some cases and are pulling back from doing business with their European counterparts — moves that could exacerbate the funding problems of European banks.
Similar withdrawals, on a much larger scale, forced Lehman into bankruptcy, as banks, hedge funds and others took steps to shield their own interests even though it helped set in motion the broader market crisis.
Turmoil in Europe could quickly spread across the Atlantic because of the intertwined nature of the global financial system. In ad-dition, it could further damage the already struggling economies elsewhere.
“This crisis has the potential to be a lot worse than Lehman Brothers,” said George Soros, the hedge fund investor, citing the lack of an authoritative pan-European body to handle a banking crisis of this severity. “That is why the problem is so serious. You need a crisis to create the political will for Europe to create such an authority, but there is still no understanding as to what the authority will do.”
The growing nervousness was reflected in financial markets Tuesday, with stocks in the United States and Europe falling 1 percent and European bank stocks falling 5 percent or more after steep drops in recent weeks.
European bank shares are now at their lowest point since March 2009, when the global banking system was still shaky following Lehman’s collapse.
Investors also continued to seek the safety of United States Treasury bonds, as yields on two-year bonds briefly touched 1.90 percent, the lowest ever, before closing at 1.98 percent.
Adding to the anxiety, several immediate challenges face European officials as they try to calm markets worried about the debt crisis spreading.
In the coming weeks, the 17 countries of the euro currency zone each could agree to a July deal brokered to bail out Greece again and possibly the region’s ailing banks. Along with getting unanimity, more immediate obstacles could trip up the agreement.
On Wednesday, Germany’s top court is to rule on whether it is legal for that country’s leaders to make such an agreement. On Thursday, officials in Finland are to express their conditions for approving the deal, and other countries may follow with their own demands to ensure their loans will be paid back.
Though they have not succeeded in calming the markets, European leaders have taken a series of steps to avert a Lehman-like failure. New credit lines have been opened by the European Central Bank for institutions that need funds, while the proposed Greek bailout would provide loans to countries that need to recapitalize their banks. In addition, the central bank has been buying up bonds from Italy and Spain, among other countries, to keep interest rates from spiking. Many of these have been bought from European banks, effectively allowing them to shed troubled assets for cash.
While the problems in smaller countries like Greece and Ireland are not new, in recent weeks the concerns have spread to banking giants in countries like Germany and France that are crucial to the functioning of the global financial system and are closely linked with their American counterparts. What is more, worries have surfaced about the outlook for Italy, whose debt dwarfs that of other smaller troubled borrowers like Greece.
“It seems like the banking sector globally is being hurt on multiple fronts,” said Philip Finch, a bank strategist with UBS in London. “It’s definitely getting worse.”
In Europe, the worry is that government bonds owned by European banks could fall sharply in value if economically distressed countries cannot pay back their loans. That would saddle the most exposed banks with huge losses.
As a result, banks are reluctant to lend money to one another and are hoarding cash. “If sentiment continues to deteriorate, ultimately we’ll see a deposit run,” Mr. Finch said. “I’m extremely worried about that.”
Mr. Finch said European banks needed to raise at least 150 billion euros in new capital, even if they do not experience large losses on sovereign debt. With stock prices so low, though, that is difficult to do, and any new offerings of company stock would dilute the value of existing shares.
American money market funds, long a reliable financing source for capital starved European banks, have sharply cut back on their exposure — starting in Spain and Italy but now also France — making it harder for European banks to loan dollars.
The 10 biggest money market funds in the United States cut their exposure to European banks by a further 9 percent in July, or $30 billion, after a reduction of 20 percent in June, the Institute of International Finance said in a report issued Monday.
“U.S. investors remain very sensitive to the headlines out of Europe,” said Alex Roever, who tracks short-term credit markets for JPMorgan Chase. “The sell-off that we’ve seen in European bank stocks is going to reinforce that and investors are likely to stay hyper-cautious. European banks are not borrowing as much, and they’re not borrowing for as long as they could three months ago.”
Nevertheless, American institutions remain vulnerable to problems their French counterparts might encounter. At the end of the second quarter, JPMorgan Chase reported total cross-border exposure of $49 billion to France, while Citigroup had $44 billion and Bank of America had $20 billion.
French banks, which have huge holdings of sovereign debt from countries across Europe, have been among the hardest hit, despite the French government’s efforts to protect them. The authorities imposed a temporary ban on short-selling last month after shares in Société Générale, a bank considered too big to fail, tumbled on rumors it may be insolvent.
But shares of Société Générale are still sliding amid concern that it, like BNP Paribas and other major French banks, is having trouble raising dollars to finance its American and other dollar-based operations.
Société Générale officials say that the market’s fears are unfounded. The bank’s chief executive, Frédéric Oudéa, has described rumors that Société Générale was having trouble raising money as “fantasy.” The shares closed down 6 percent Tuesday at 18.93 euros. Three months ago the shares were at 40.
What is more, French banks, like other European banks, are able to obtain financing from the European Central Bank if necessary.
Meanwhile, problems in Spain were highlighted on Tuesday when one of Spain’s largest savings banks, Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo, reported a startling increase in bad loans to 19 percent of overall lending from 9 percent at the end of last year.
Still, the huge stockpile of euros that banks have stashed away at the European Central Bank at rock-bottom interest rates — last night it hit a recent high of 166 billion euros — suggests that no bank is close to a Lehman-like failure.
The risk now is that Europe’s resistance to recapitalizing its banks could turn into a broader crisis.
Daniel Gros, director of the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels, had a blunt explanation of why European governments have so far refused to recapitalize their banks.
“They don’t have the money and they are in the pockets of their bankers,” Mr. Gros said.
Policy makers in the United States and Britain, where compulsory infusions of new capital played a crucial role in calming the markets in 2008, have long urged Europe to do the same.
This story originally appeared in The New York Times
URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/44419154/page/2/
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2011 CNBC.com -
After reading the below summary, think why Germany and France tend to be so involved in the process of saving Greece...
Their banks are very involved in Greece, and a default in Greece is essentially a default in German and French banks.
Evidence was clear in July when these banks cut heads, made financial provisions and lowered earnings guidance... All these after the June Greek bailout.
Read on and to find out why Friday was a bad day for markets....
From Bloomberg... A good summary for the week.
Finance Chiefs Vow to Support Banks as Euro Crisis Roils Markets
Euro Crisis Draws G-7 Fire as Merkel Mulls Bank Aid
Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Group of Seven finance chiefs vowed to support banks and buoy slowing economic growth as Europe’s debt crisis roiled financial markets and threatened a global recession.
“We will take all necessary actions to ensure the resilience of banking systems and financial markets,” G-7 finance ministers and central bankers said in a statement released during talks in Marseille, France late yesterday. “Concerns over the pace and future of the recovery underscore the need for a concerted effort at a global level in support of strong, sustainable and balanced growth.”
Renewed fears that European policy makers are failing to prevent a Greek default and contain their debt woes yesterday prompted investors to sell stocks and push the euro to a six- month low against the dollar. European bank and sovereign credit risk reached all-time highs as 10-year Treasury and German bund yields fell to record lows on demand for a haven.
Euro Crisis Draws G-7 Fire as Stark Quits, Merkel Mulls Bank
Germany moved toward insulating its banks against the fallout of a possible Greek default and Juergen Stark’s resignation from the European Central Bank exposed the policy rifts aggravating the debt turmoil. Such shifts highlight the biggest risk to international expansion since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. three years ago this month.
The sense of disarray drew fire from G-7 officials with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner lobbying his European counterparts to get their act together. Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty even suggested Greece may need to quit the euro.
‘Political Will’
European authorities “need to do whatever they can do to calm these pressures,” Geithner told Bloomberg Television. “They have to demonstrate they have enough political will.”
Dogged by voter unrest and ideological splits, Europe’s leaders have reignited investor unease less than two months since they detailed their latest remedy for a crisis nearing its second anniversary. Finland is demanding collateral from Greece in return for fresh aid and German lawmakers want veto power.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner
Governments are also dithering over a revamp and management of their regional rescue fund and falling short of the closer budget ties investors say are needed to guarantee the euro’s future. There are also questions over whether nations can cut deficits without derailing growth and creating even more debt.
‘Moment of Truth’
“We need Europe to have its moment of truth, to recognize that the current course isn’t sustainable,” Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive officer of Pacific Investment Management Co., said in an interview on Bloomberg TV’s “In the Loop” with Betty Liu. “They need to opt for one of two options: either full fiscal union, or a smaller, stronger euro zone.”
The G-7 officials conclude their meeting today with French Finance Minister Francois Baroin briefing reporters at about 2:15 p.m.
ECB's Juergen Stark Steps Down
Central banks will “maintain price stability and continue to support economic recovery” and provide liquidity “as required” to lenders, while governments will pursue “growth- friendly” budget cuts, they said in their statement. The officials renewed their commitment to market-determined exchange rates, while noting excess volatility and disorderly shifts threaten stability.
Evidence of another split at the heart of European policy making was highlighted by Stark’s unexpected announcement that he will quit the ECB’s Executive Board. Stark made the decision after privately protesting the bank’s program of purchasing stressed government bonds, which was widened last month to include those of Spain and Italy, a euro-area central bank official said.
ECB Buying
The bond buying, which has totalled 129 billion euros ($177 billion) since it began in May, was the ECB’s effort to soothe markets as governments sought longer-term solutions. It opened the Frankfurt-based central bank to criticism even from within its ranks that it blurs the line between monetary and fiscal policy and risks bloating its balance sheet.
“It’s generally known that I’m not a glowing advocate of these purchases,” Stark said in an Aug. 18 interview.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said his country will nominate a successor to Stark. Schaeuble’s deputy, Joerg Asmussen, will be the candidate, N-TV reported, without saying where it got the information.
Reflecting mounting concern Greece may default and that the debt crisis is morphing into a banking crisis, German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government is preparing plans to shore up its nation’s financial sector. The measures involve aiding lenders and insurers that face a possible 50 percent loss on their Greek bonds if the next tranche of Greece’s bailout is withheld, said three coalition officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deliberations are private.
‘Plan B’
The existence of a “Plan B” comes as German lawmakers intensify their criticism of Greece, threatening to withhold aid unless it meets the terms of its austerity package, after an international mission to Athens suspended its report on the country’s progress.
The European discord antagonized foreign governments. Geithner said that leaders must swallow the short-term political cost of ending the turmoil and that the region’s healthiest nations must provide “unequivocal” support for the weakest.
“It is completely within the capacity of the stronger members of the euro area to absorb those costs,” he said. “Costs would be much, much greater if they were to sit and do nothing.”
Greek Commitment
Greece’s finance ministry said in a statement it is committed to “full implementation” of its rescue agreement and rejected discussion of a potential default as “organized speculation.” Credit-default swaps on Greek debt this week climbed to a record, signaling a more-than 90 percent chance the nation will fail to meet debt commitments.
Greece is relying on a sixth payment of 8 billion euros in international loans that had been scheduled this month. The payment comes under the terms of the May 2010 bailout as EU leaders struggle to put together a second rescue package, which combines a voluntary debt swap and state asset sales.
Europe isn’t the only threat to the world economy just two years after its deepest worldwide slump since World War II. Undermining the ability of policy makers to revive expansion is benchmark interest rates are already around record lows and public debts sit at unprecedented highs.
President Barack Obama is promoting a $447 billion plan to cut the 9.1 percent jobless rate, while Japan is struggling to prevent a stronger yen from undermining exports. Switzerland this week revived a currency war by imposing a cap on the franc.
“There is a pretty good chance of an actual stall which would lead the global economy to slide backward,” Nobel laureate Paul Krugman said in an interview in Yaroslav, central Russia, describing the risk of a recession as “quite high, maybe 50 percent.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Simon Kennedy in Marseille, France, at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at [email protected] -
Hi MadScientist, can you whip out your crystal ball and share what Singapore will be like in 5-10 years? Where will we be in the global economics landscape and what industries/sectors will thrive or fail? I am sure this will be of interest to many parents who are helping to chart their children’s education (and ultimately career) choices. Thanks !
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UncleLim:
Hi MadScientist, can you whip out your crystal ball and share what Singapore will be like in 5-10 years? Where will we be in the global economics landscape and what industries/sectors will thrive or fail? I am sure this will be of interest to many parents who are helping to chart their children's education (and ultimately career) choices. Thanks !
Hi!
Thanks for asking... I do not have a crystal ball... and I do not do predictions. But I do have my expectations, although a little MadScientist-ish.
I think Asia will be the main growth area of the world... China is big, but cannot take over. Strangely enough, I suspect that the gobal financial centre would be Europe... having said that, it appears strange, but the need to go bust first and start up faster than US. (think Asian Financial Crisis of the 90s).
Asia will grow due to China being a deep growth region, supported by Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia... these countries have a very wonderful young population that can displace SG in years to come.
SG...
I got mixed feelings...
Politically, we will change drastically... leadership will need to hinge on our first basics like how it was forged in the 60s. But the generation in SG will long forget how and why we need to be so solid. Right now, we are on our way to fragmentation... by choice or not, it is happening. This is the endgame reset.
For the deep-rooted SGporeans... we will still be a minority... but a new generation of SGporeans with roots will surface. Perhaps the 2nd/3rd generation of the current foreigner-become-citizen will find it AFTER a time of hardship. What hardship I cannot tell, but I think it will be necessary... a real threat to SG is what we need, and will have. We ARE too complacent. Way too complacent I reiterate.
My interest in the Life Science started way before the pillar was identified. Somehow, I cannot visualize this pillar to be as successful as the other two. Science is a different beast, and we are taming it with the wrong ideals. SG should still be a very export and service sector... one thing very clear here... EDUCATION. Already booming, it will continue to lead Asia in education, particularly higher education. However, it might be a little transient as we do not have a big enough supporting industries. Nonetheless, education and healthcare would still remain a big thing in SG... Our financial services sector will boom (after following the global bust). Technology wise, I like green/clean energy, but I do not see it in SG - yet.
Our inflation is going to increase even more. Wage increases are going to be sacrificed for economic sustainability reasons.
Hope that helps... a bit vague even to me... but these are ideas.
As for our kids...
First thing as parents... stop charting our kids career choices!!!
It is the single most damaging thing to do to our children. I was very very very very fortunate to have a mother that allowed me to pursue my dreams. Only cos she did pursue hers too (extremely difficult for her generation)... and so I do that with my children.
I have seen and known many parents who chart out their children's career path... seldom does it work out, and if it does, even more rare that the children are happy. And the cycle will continue on with their own children, etc.
See the connection?
Parents tend to have two undesirable habits...
1. To project their own dream (and failures) onto their children.
2. To teach their children what they think is right, based on what they had learnt during growing up.
Our children are and will grow up in a very different environment from ourselves. IMHO, the best legacy we can leave them is an appropriate attitude towards life, and its associated adventures.
I advocate an attitude that covers:
To always learn, and be adaptable.
To work with others for win-win-win situations.
To be prudent and humble.
To be anyone you want to be - the belief that they can do any career they want, only if they want it badly enough. Only condition I impose is that they must do their very best so that no one can say otherwise, and they are accountable to themselves, and to themselves only.
We need to teach them how to survive in their new word, not ours. So, we need to unlearn what we have learnt, and relearn what might come for them... so that we can teach them appropriately.
Every one of us are born with gifts and blessings... our journey in life is not to fulfil somone else's dreams, but our own dreams, and using these gifts to make things better. First step is to find and know these gifts.
Parting shot...
Every child (us included) is born perfect... with a reason for our existence... and to live life is to know how to live well and full.
Cheers! -
MadScientist,
Was good reading your post.
Agree about the complacency ,
Would like to add we also get agitated by the wrong issues…
Yeah, something to think about …
Thanks! -
Well, back in Singapore yesterday from Hong Kong. Can see similarity there and here, but HK is probably what Singapore will be like in 20 years if we intended to be Hub of everything (financial, educational, silicon valley clone etc…)
As a parent myself, I probably say MadScientist is right when comes to life choices made by our kids… There is this article I read that a good parent is one that will teach and guide their kids to be independent and social responsible. They allow their kids to live their own life, all the times keeping a watchful eye with wipes and medications on their hands behind their backs…
However I would like to do more for them beside giving them the gift of life itself, a headstart in education, housing, wedding etc… Its tough surviving these days… -
Cheers Sun_2010 and dicky... Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks for airing your thoughts, MadScientist. That was certainly more than I was expecting.
I cannot help but compare Singapore to London as it evolves into the go-to city of choice in the minds of many Asians. If that is so I see these doing well:
1. Finance - Wealth management, loans syndication, IPO, insurance etc.
2. Legal - (inextricably intertwined with Finance) maritime, mediation, intellectual properties, arbitration, commercial litigation
3. Medical - hospital services, emergency evacuations, medical trials
4. Education
The following I cannot see how Singapore can be competitive in the long run:
1. Biotechnology
2. Manufacturing (except for maybe pharmaceuticals)
3. Engineering (other than those related to domestic infrastructure)
Also, like native Londoners, many average Singaporean will suddenly find ourselves unable to compete in many sectors, and confined to certain areas like:
1. Civil service and uniformed services
2. Education (low to middle tier)
3. Real estate, insurance sales
4. Small businesses- eg. interior design, photography
5. Entertainment, transport and travel services
If I am right, there will be a generation of Singaporeans who will feel that they have been cheated of a bright future by the changing tides of global events. To make matters worse, unlike Americans or Brits, they cannot just move to rural areas to do farming or fishing. There is no second or third city in Singapore offering a lower cost of living. They will just hole themselves up (mostly in their parents' homes) and age into their 40s or 50s, unmarried and disconnected from the economy.
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