S’pore losing about 1,000 capable people every year

From The Straits Times, Feb 14 2008.

Main draw isn’t China, but the US and other English- speaking countries

By Clarissa Oon

SINGAPORE is losing about 1,000 capable people every year and the numbers are growing, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, sounding the alarm on the severity of the brain drain.

Household incomes up but rich-poor gap widens

From The Straits Times, Feb 14 2008

By Bryan Lee, Economics Correspondent

THANKS to a booming economy and rising salaries, the average family in Singapore saw its household income rise by 9.6 per cent last year, the biggest increase in at least a decade.

But the rich again got richer in 2007. Higher-income households generally enjoyed bigger pay hikes than lower-income ones, widening the income gap between the rich and poor.

MM Lee ‘not sold’ on 6.5 million population

From AsiaOne,  Feb 1 2008

MINISTER Mentor Lee Kuan Yew ‘has not quite been sold’ on the idea of a 6.5 million population size in Singapore.Instead, he projects for Singapore an optimum population size of five to 5.5 million for Singapore.

He said on Friday: ‘I have not quite been sold on the idea that we should have 6.5 million.’

Committee calls for flexibility in compulsory annuity plan

From The Straits Times, Jan 31 2008

It also wants Singaporeans to have a say in when they want to get their annuity payout.

By Li Xueying

SINGAPOREANS’ objections to an upcoming compulsory scheme for old-age support will be largely addressed in the recommendations of a committee tasked to design it.

It is suggesting to the Government that the annuity plan be made more flexible and to allow for refunds.

Foreigners one-third of Singapore workforce–govt

From AFP, Jan 30 2008

SINGAPORE — Foreigners made up one-third of Singapore’s workforce last year and the jobless rate eased to a 10-year low in the fourth quarter, the government said Thursday.

Foreign employment rose by a new high of 144,500 last year and as of December there were 900,800 workers from overseas, accounting for 33 percent of the 2.73 million people employed, the Ministry of Manpower said in a press release.

“Foreign employment rose by a new high of 144,500 in 2007, enabling the economy to grow beyond the limits of Singapore’s indigenous workforce,” it said.

Retirement means ‘death’, so don’t stop working: MM Lee

Straits Times,  Jan 11, 2008

Retirement means ‘death’, so don’t stop working: MM Lee

By Clarissa Oon

A SEDENTARY retirement will sound the death knell for anyone, said Singapore‘s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, ruling out this concept for himself.

“With nothing to do, no purpose in life, you’ll just degrade, go to seed,’ he said on Friday at a dialogue session during a conference on ways to tap the seniors’ market in Singapore and the region.

Mr Lee, who turns 85 this year, said that an active life, regular exercise and frequent travel were his secrets to ageing gracefully.

A gracious Singapore? Not in my lifetime: MM

Jan 09, 2008, Straits Times

A gracious Singapore? Not in my lifetime: MM

He says cultivating social graces will take longer compared to environmental consciousness

By Li Xueying

ENVIRONMENTAL consciousness among Singaporeans will come about very quickly when they realise how they will be in trouble when changes in the climate take place.

But attaining a gracious society will take more time, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on Monday at a dialogue marking the 40th anniversary of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Iseas).

In fact, he believes it will not happen in his lifetime.