Category Archives: Singapore

Singapore in second spot in WEF Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012

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So Singapore has jumped one spot up and is now second in the recently released World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2011-2012. Switzerland has retained it’s top spot while Sweden has moved one spot down and the USA has also fallen one place to come in at number five this year. Finland is at number four and Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Japan and the United Kingdom round up the next five places. Japan has fallen three places since last year, but other than Singapore it’s the only Asian economy on the top ten which has been dominated by mostly European economies. China stands at number 26 while India is halfway down the list at number 56.

Well what this means to us will probably be the justification of the PAP’s foreign talent scheme and no end to our respite! This also means that more foreign talents will enter Singapore and the country and it’s resources will get more and more crowded! I am quite ambivalent about this whole thing – on one hand as someone who has majored in Economics and Finance, I know the importance of getting in foreigners who can do the tasks who can’t or won’t do, but on the other hand, I worry constantly if the country would not become so filled with Foreign Talent or FTs for short that we become a foreigner in our own land. I also worry for my children – 10-12 years down the line, when they are ready for university, will there be space for them here or do they have to become FT in another country?

Singapore has always been shaped by foreigners, most Singaporeans today are the descendents of someone who came into the fledgling country. The original inhabitants of this land – probably the Malays no longer count as the majority of the population. Hopefully the situation is not as dire as I see it – but then I have always been a worrier.

Travel Woes…

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After almost eight years, I am now taking the public transport to get to work and it has been a huge culture shock to me! I had read about the crush in the public transport system in Singapore but it was only when I actually experienced it did i realize the magnitude of it.

By and large Singapore has a fairly decent public transportation system with trains, called the Mass Rapid Transit or MRT serving major towns and the Light Rapid Transport or LRT connecting newer towns to the MRT stations and buses which either connect the outer lying areas to the city centre or connect the suburbs to bus or train interchanges. The two operators which run the bus/train network are SMRT and SBS.

Eight years back when I last took the bus on a regular basis, it was easy since I was taking it from the first stop to the last one and was guaranteed a seat. My connecting bus from the interchange to my office was also from the first stop and since the journey was some 10-15 minutes only, not getting a seat was not a big issue! The traffic on the roads was not so bad and I could reach my workplace in the western part of the country in less than an hour. Then last year when S was on his last reservist duty, I had to take the public transport for about 4 days and I took the bus as usual and the journey took me almost double the time! The traffic in the roads was terrible and made me realise just how many vehicles were on the road, in spite of high car prices and the other expenses that come with owning a car! I then took the train on the other days and that was not too bad considering I was travelog in the opposite direction for most of the journey. I was so thankful to be driven to work once S was back!

Now since July I am working in a new place which is on the fringe of the Central Business District (CBD).  This means along with me, approximately 60-70% of Singapore’s working population travel in the same direction as me. The first few days I took the train, but the crush there brought to mind the Mumbai train crush the only difference being that people are a bit more polite here and all buses and trains are air conditioned. I’ve had to frequently miss trains because there was just no way I could enter the train! I then started taking my chances with the road traffic and am now taking an almost direct bus which takes me to a busstop about 7-10 minutes walking distance from my office. This bus is also extremely crowded. The stop I usually get on is the last one before the expressway and the days I can actually get on the bus is good! But there is one thing that I have noticed which is fairly disturbing. Most people do not like to move to the back of the bus but crowd around the exits. This means that the bus is front heavy and newer passengers have to squeeze in the front with zero personal space while at the back it is fairly comfortable.

Wish the powers that are (aka the transport minister or the biggies in the ministry) take these busses and trains incognito without getting the operators and the grassroot leaders in the picture and get a first hand experience of what most Singaporeans go through. Only then would any policy designed to alleviate suffering really take place, otherwise it’s all just gloss.

Sunday

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I am watching the diving preliminaries of the first ever Youth Olympic Games being held in Singapore. This is being hailed as a very historic event here and the Singapore government has spent about S$ 300 billion on it. This event is before another high profile event – the Formula 1 race which takes place next month here.

Nanyang Technological University where I work in is the official games village. About half the campus has been cordoned off and in the process I have to make a good trek to reach the closest bus stop to my office.

The past few days saw me having excruciating pain in my legs, especially in the heel. It was bad in the morning, but gradually petered off during the day and by the time I went to bed, the pain was quite bearable. Yesterday morning was unbearable – I could not even walk to the bathroom and so decided to see the doctor. The diagnosis was an inflammation of my Achilles tendon. (here’s the Wikipedia link to what it actually is). The medicines were very effective and with one dosage the pain was almost gone. Today the pain is hardly there.

D&P want to go swimming at their friend L’s place. The sky is ominously dark and it looks like rain. The pool will be closed if it rains and D is very disappointed if it happens. We’re going to take a chance but this depends on how soon P completes his homework.

Update – We did go swimming and both had a great time with their friend.

Youth Olympic Games

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I’m stumped! I don’t know what to write today. These days because of the Youth Olympic Games, which will be held in Singapore for the very first time, getting to work and back is becoming increasingly difficult. The YOG Games Village is located at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU). I work at a research institute on campus. Due to security reasons, about half the campus has been cordoned off and now the busstops are only located at about 2-3 locations on campus. This means a good 10-13 minute walk to reach the place to get the bus and sometimes the buses are early and people miss their ride home. Luckily I’ve managed to not miss the bus till date and hope this continues till the 30th when things get back to normal!