Singapore Election Watch

Lets Get Angry!




Singapore face two years of fairly deep recession

21 comments

Asia's real economy is hit by the rout in financial markets, the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s, analysts said Singapore's central bank may further ease policy in the next six months because the economic contraction may spill into next year.
Singapore' economy shrank an annualised, seasonally adjusted 6.3 percent in the July-September quarter, advance estimates showed, compared with forecast growth of 1.1 percent. The economy shrank 5.7 percent in the second quarter.
From a year earlier, the economy contracted 0.5 percent as exports and manufacturing slumped.

The Southeast Asian nation last sank into a recession -- usually defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contractions -- in 2002 in a global downturn after the Sept. 11, 2001 attack.

"The outlook for next year is very dodgy. Singapore might face two years of fairly deep recession as it is a small, open economy," said Song Seng Wun, an economist at CIMB.
The government also revised down its 2008 growth forecast for the third time this year to around 3 percent on Friday from an earlier estimate of 4 to 5 percent.

More...


  • Singapore President's Basic Salary raised to S$3,187,100 (24.9% increase), Singapore's current President, Nathan, was a member of the dreaded Japanese Kampeti (uniform, sword and all) during the Japanese occupation of Singapore.
  • Singapore Prime Minister's Basic Salary raised to S$3,091,200 (25.5% increase). This is US$2.04 million, or about five times more than U.S. President George W. Bush, who currently takes home US$400,000
  • Senior Minister – S$3,043,300 (13.5% increase) or US$2.01 million.
  • Minister Mentor – S$3,043,300 (13.5% increase) or US$2.01 million
  • Deputy Prime Minister – S$2,452,500 (18.8% increase) US$1.62 million.
  • Minister and Senior Perm Sec – S$1,593,500 (32.5% increase) or US$1.06 million
  • ]Entry Superscale Grade – S$384,000 (3.3% increase)
  • Member of Parliament – S$216,300 (23.2% increase)
  • Average Singaporean: US$26,000 (S$43,104 or S$3,592 per mo) Source: Singapore Ministry of Manpower
  • The poorest 10% in Singapore earn S$3,600, or S$300 a month.
  • Welfare payments to the needy S$290 a month.

More...

10 comments


Can downgrade your pigeonhole, right? Later got money then upgrade again loh? *hee*hee*

More...

26 comments


It could have been worse...*hee*hee*

More...




More videos and pictures: URL

I must state that I only support peasants aggrieved by irresponsible adverts and lured by lucrative investment offers and misled into losses with naive mindsets, to voice up against these financial institutions, and bring awareness to public.

I am not supportive to calls for using public funds to bail-out any losses. I think this is most unfair because these losses are incurred by those who stood for financial gain with risks, this is their own gamble and their own consequences. They got gains and losses this is what they went in for. The public does not - not at all share their gains, and therefore should not be sharing their losses. These gamblers are not much more different from Casino gamblers, when they win they enjoy their profits without sharing with the public at all, they earned vacations; new cars; new houses etc all for themselves and not the public. When they lost no public funds should be abused to bail them out, they must learn from their own lessons and face their own consequences just as how they enjoyed their gains.

Public funds should not be used to bail out stock losers, just as public funds are not to be abused to bail out casino losers. Not even in the name of saving the economy. The member of public who did not took part in these gamble stand to gain nothing, and thus should not lose anything on behalf of these greed driven losers. The more you rescue these losers the more emboldened they got to take risk on behalf of the public, and the less they will learn from their lessons.

By the law of nature the losers are supposed to bear the consequences themselves without affecting other innocents who did not made any decision to take risk. Government should hold these innocent members of public entirely harmless instead of abusing funds from these innocent members of public to cover losses made by some who on their own decisions took risks to stand for personal gains without any benefit to the public.

When Temasek GIC made their huge losses it is already bonded unfairly by Singaporean tax payers, why must tax payers still further bear losses beyond the incompetence of famiLEE LEEgime / Temasek GIC?

Tax payers should stand up NOW and refuse to be suckers all the way!

More...

Singapore becomes the first Asian victim of recession

6 comments

AFP, SINGAPORE
Saturday, Oct 11, 2008, Page 1

Singapore has become the first Asian economy to fall into recession, analysts said yesterday, after the government revised downward its full-year growth estimate and eased monetary policy for the first time in years.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry lowered the city-state’s full-year growth forecast to around 3 percent, citing a slowdown in the global economy and key domestic sectors.

The move came as the ministry released preliminary data showing that real GDP declined by 6.3 percent in the third quarter after contracting 5.7 percent in the previous quarter, the ministry said.

While it did not describe the economy as being in recession, a technical recession is generally defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction in economic output.

“Singapore will be the first Asia economy to fall into a technical recession,” DBS Group Research said in an assessment of the data.

In a move to confront the downturn, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) — its de facto central bank — said it was easing monetary policy for the first time in more than four years.

“The Singapore economy has weakened over the course of 2008, alongside an escalation in the turmoil in financial markets and a more severe deceleration in global economic activity,” MAS said.

These developments meant new uncertainties for the Singapore economy, while slower Asian growth would restrain activity in a range of service industries such as transportation and tourism, it said.

“The risks to external demand conditions continue to be on the downside and a more severe global downturn cannot be discounted,” the bank said.

Singapore is Southeast Asia’s wealthiest economy in terms of GDP per capita, but is heavily dependent on trade. This makes it sensitive to hiccups in developed economies, particularly key export markets the US and Europe.

Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter rise in GDP, the value of goods and services produced in the economy.

Compared with the third quarter of last year, the ministry said Singapore’s economy contracted by 0.5 percent in real terms, against the 0.8 percent expansion foreseen in the Dow Jones poll.

More...


JBJ died of heart failure aged 82

Veteran Singapore politician JB Jeyaretnam has died of heart failure in a Singapore hospital, aged 82.

He was the first to break a government monopoly on power in Singapore when he won a seat in parliament in 1981.

He had been forced into bankruptcy over defamation cases won by the government but was planning a new run for office.

Dubbed the Grand Old Man of opposition politics, analysts said Mr Jeyaretnam was a thorn in the side of Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan-yew.

Born in 1926 in Jaffna, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Mr Jeyaretnam trained as a lawyer in Britain before making his home in Singapore.

Political injustices

He served as an MP from 1981 to 1986 and from 1997 to 2001.

His first victory, as standard bearer for the Workers' Party, came when he defeated the People's Action Party (PAP) of founding prime minister of independent Singapore Mr Lee.

He was returned to parliament in 1984 but in 1986 was found guilty of making a false declaration of his party's accounts and fined a sum which made him liable to expulsion from the legislature.

He was disqualified from sitting in parliament until 1991, and disbarred from legal practice.

The Privy Council in Britain ruled in 1988 that he had been wrongly disbarred in "a grievous injustice".

Mr Lee "appeared determined to drive him from political life" wrote Professor Michael Leifer in his Dictionary of the Modern Politics of Southeast Asia.

Not until 1997 did Mr Jeyaretnam try again; he re-entered parliament as a non-constituency member without voting rights.

Just over a year later he was again brought to court, on the charge of having defamed then prime minister Goh Chok-tong and ten other senior members of the PAP.

Although the court found in favour of the government it awarded damages at only one-tenth of the amount possible but on appeal, damages were increased and full costs imposed on Mr Jeyaretnam.

By May 2000, he was declared bankrupt for failing to keep up payments in another libel case.

He left the Workers' Party in 2001, and was discharged from bankruptcy in 2007.

Re-election plans

This year he helped form the Reform Party to challenge the 40-year rule of Singapore by the PAP, saying Singapore had been "enslaved" by its rulers.

He said in April he planned to run in the next parliament election, due by 2011.

His death came just days before he was to appear in the High Court to seek an order that a by-election be held for a seat that is currently vacant, his family told AFP news agency.

GK Pamela, another of his relatives, said Mr Jeyaretnam hoped he would be propelled back into parliament.

"That was his wish," she told AFP in tears. "Such a good man. Why did God take him?"

The opposition has long been marginalised in Singapore, where it complains of limited access to the pro-government mainstream media and restrictions on public assemblies.

The People's Action Party, which has ruled Singapore since independence from Malaysia in 1965, holds 82 out of 84 elected seats in Parliament.

The Straits Times website described Mr Jeyaretnam as "pugnacious", an "old warhorse" and "irrelevant".

More...

PAP's neglect of Singapore's poor is a shame

8 comments


Gopalan Nair assulted by Singapore Police!

13 comments

Police cause injuries seen on Mr. Gopalan's face taken on Saturday night (5.July.2008).


Police cause distorted and twisted eye classes of Mr. Gopalan taken on Saturday night (5.July.2008).

More...

Dr. Chee: We want justice, the rule of law

6 comments


  • Target: 1 Million Signatures!
  • Petition 1 - 4094 patriots Say NO
  • Petition 2 - 6859 patriots Say NO
  • Enough is enough!
  • Singaporeans MUST learn to stand up against the Familee's tyranny and economic genocide against Singaporeans! Even if it's not for ourselves, we have to do it for our children and children's children!
  • If Singaporeans don't want to help themselves, nobody will!
  • Please urge at least 5 or more of your relatives, friends and colleagues to sign in. Just do it!
  • Rank: 146th out of 167 countries
  • Press Freedom: Difficult Situation
  • Economic Freedom: Free
  • Democracy Rank: 84th (Hybrid Regime)
  • Wikipedia 1 2
    The Economist 1

    Who Are You Voting For?
    Singapore Democratic Party (SDP)
    Workers' Party of Singapore (WP)
    Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) (Alliance of NSP, SPP, PKMS)
    People's Action Party (PAP)
    Independents
    Others



    results »

  • The GE2006 poll click Here.

Latest posts

Archives

Links


    Get Firefox Get Firefox Support openDemocracy! singapore blog directory
  • Event: Empower Singaporeans Rally and March
  • Dates: Everyday, 16-19 September 2006
  • Venue: Speakers Corner @ 11 am onwards
  • Participants: Open to Singaporeans from all walks of life
  • Objectives: One, to highlight the fact that the SingaporeGovernment denies Singaporeans their freedoms of speech, association, and peaceful assembly. Two, to highlight the plight of poor and working Singaporeans.
  • Event Reports: Click here, here and here
  • Confessions of Protesters: I, II, III, IV
  • Pictures: Album 1, Album 2, Album 3, Album 4, Album 5
  • Videos: Click Me
  • Why you came: Listen

Powered by Blogger

make money online blogger templates



Singapore Election Watch is powered by Blogspot and Gecko & Fly.