Singapore Ranked 49th In Happy Planet Index

The Happy Planet Index
Costa Rica comes top of the Happy Planet Index 2.0. Costa Ricans report the highest life satisfaction in the world, have the second-highest average life expectancy of the Americas (second only to Canada) and have an ecological footprint that means that the country only narrowly fails to achieve the goal of ‘one-planet living’: consuming its fair share of the Earth’s natural resources.
Singapore is placed 49th, with an average score of 48.2.
Report Link:
http://www.happyplanetindex.org/public-data/files/happy-planet-index-2-0.pdf

Singapore rules out decriminalising gay sex

Deccan Herald, 5 Jul 2009
Singapore has ruled out decriminalising gay sex after a Delhi High Court order legalising homosexuality, as both the nations share the same Penal Code inherited from the colonial British.
The city-state's Section 377A of its Penal Code states sex between men is a crime.
A recent ruling by the Delhi High Court legalising gay sex between consenting adults in India raised questions on whether Singapore might go the same way.
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Riau likely to send haze to Singapore, Malaysia

The Jakarta Post, 5 Jul 2009
The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKB) predicted Sunday that the haze currently blanketing Riau province would likely move to nearby Singapore and Malaysia.
Rahmad Tauladani, an analyst at the agency's Riau office, noted that the wind was now changing direction and blowing the haze to the direction of Singapore and Malaysia.
"In near future, the haze from Riau will go to neighboring countries because the wind blows it to the east," Rahmad was quoted by Antara as saying.
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Singapore to hold anti-terror drill; simulate Mumbai attack

Reuters India, 5 Jul 2009
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore will hold its biggest anti-terror drill on Monday, simulating the deadly Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people last year, ahead of hosting an Asia-Pacific summit in November.
Exercise North Star VII will involve 2,000 participants from 15 state agencies and media outlets and simulate situations such as concerted terror attacks on hotels, malls and an underground train station, the Singapore Police Force said in a statement.
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Fast Firefox 3.5 comes with bugs

Asia Times Online, 4 Jul 2009, Martin J Young
A little over 24 hours after Mozilla unleashed Firefox 3.5 this week, its servers notched up 5 million downloads of the latest iteration of the world's second-most popular web browser. The download rate was lower than the previous version of Firefox, launched in June 2008 following a massive marketing campaign.
Mozilla has a very effective upgrade mechanism which gets people adopting the latest versions faster that its rivals. The download and installation is painless and all settings, bookmarks and add-ons from Firefox 3 are seamlessly transferred. Its current total market share according to research firm Net Applications is around the 22% mark.
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Returning Asians to fill talent gap, boost innovation

Reuters, 4 Jul 2009, Eveline Danubrata
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - "Go East" is a message being heeded by many Asian professionals in the United States and Europe who see brighter job prospects in a region that is expected to outperform the rest of the world for economic growth.
Zhang Zheng Han, 26, is one of a growing flock of highly educated Asians living in the West who have bought one-way tickets home, lured by job opportunities, family ties and a comfortable lifestyle.
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George Yeo: China, India to become big powers in future

Xinhua, 4 Jul 2009
SINGAPORE, July 4 (Xinhua) -- When the current economic crisis is over, the world will be a different place with many centers of political, economic and cultural influence, and Asia's two emerging giants China and India will become big powers in the future, said a Singapore minister on Saturday.
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"Dendrobium Thein Sein" Military Junta Refuses UN Chief To Visit Aung San Suu Kyi

BBC News, 4 Jul 2009
Burma's junta has refused to allow visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to meet jailed opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Mr Ban was told of the refusal when he held a second round of talks with military leader Gen Than Shwe.
"I'm deeply disappointed," he told reporters. "I'm very sorry to report to you that this is not possible."
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Indian Army Will Not Seek Fresh Howitzer Bids From ST Kinetics Pending Corruption Probe

SmashHits.com, 3 Jul 2009, IANS
New Delhi, July 3 (IANS) The Indian Army will not issue fresh bids to buy the ultra-light howitzer that it badly needs for frontline defence. Instead, it will await the outcome of the probe into corruption charges against the Singapore firm, whose guns it had chosen for field trials. The firm is among seven 'blacklisted' on corruption charges.
India has not bought any artillery guns since the controversial Bofors deal in 1986. This year, after 10 months of evaluation, it had selected Singapore Technologies for field trials of the ultra light howitzers. Then the firm was blacklisted by the defence ministry, jeopardising the modernisation plan. All dealings with blacklisted firms are on hold.
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Fitch places Gulf Investment Corporation on rating watch negative

AME Info, 4 Jul 2009
Fitch Ratings has placed Kuwait-based Gulf Investment Corporation's Long-term Issuer Default Rating of 'A', Short-term IDR of 'F1', Support Rating of '1' and Support Rating Floor of 'A' on Rating Watch Negative (RWN).
The RWN reflects Fitch's concerns that the willingness to provide ongoing support to GIC by the shareholders (in case of future need), may have weakened given the long delays in some of the shareholders making payments towards GIC's $1.1bn capital increase approved in December 2008.
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Sentosa’s hat-trick at Asian Attractions Awards

The New Nation, 4 Jul 2009, Mostafa Kamal Aru
For the third year running, Sentosa has won the much coveted award for the Large Attraction category at the IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) Asian Attractions Expo 2009 at a ceremony held in Seoul, Korea. Based on an online vote that was open to both leisure industry professionals and the general public throughout Asia, Sentosa beat strong contenders including Hong Kong Disneyland, China's Chimelong Water Park and Korea's Lotte World to win the award. Sentosa was the only Singapore attraction to be nominated under this category.
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Singapore Worry About The American Media

Commentary
The Jakarta Post, 4 Jul 2009, Tom Plate
In successful Singapore, which boasts one of the world's highest standards of living, the news media and government exist more as parallel lines of similar purpose than as crossed swords of continual confrontation. The well-staffed Straits Times, the island nation's lead broadsheet newspaper, offers spotlessly professional coverage of Asia. It has more full-time correspondents in China than the New York Times. Its alert coverage of Southeast Asia blankets the region. Its opinion pages scoop up perspectives from the West as well as the East. It is a serious newspaper.
But it does not bash or lash out at City Hall. That is to say, it does not shove its editorial nose into the face of the nation's leaders. The government would not let it, and the journalists - as far as any outside observer can tell - appear to accept this.
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Techgoondu giving away Sony Ericsson G705

Announcement
Techgoondu, 4 Jul 2009, Alfred Siew
Fancy a phone that not only lets you talk to friends, but also watch YouTube videos, find your way around with Google maps and surf with Wi-Fi on the go?
We have not one but three Sony Ericsson G705 phones to give away, as a small way to mark the second year of this techie blog.
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Jobs outlook in Singapore remains gloomy

The Malaysian Insider, 4 Jul 2009
SINGAPORE, July 4 — Singapore can expect unemployment to remain at current levels or to rise further, Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said yesterday.
In remarks suggesting a turnaround is not imminent, he said that with the economic outlook still uncertain, the labour market “will remain soft for next one to two quarters at least”.
“A lot will depend on whether orders are coming in for the third as well as the fourth quarter. Visibility is not clear beyond July or August,” he said at a press conference to give an update on the impact of the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (Spur).
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Nothing as solid as land

Commentary
The Star Online, 4 Jul 2009, Seah Chiang Nee
Banking has now lost its shine. Emphasis appears to be shifting towards accumulating land-based assets.
THE average Singaporean, it was once said half in jest, can easily become the world’s best civil servant or bank employee for reasons that are not very complimentary.
He is serious at work, generally efficient, unbending about rules, and, of course, corruption-free – “too afraid”, someone cynically added.
It also implies that he lacks initiative and avoids making decisions on his own for fear of making mistakes.
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Temasek looks to its first gusher

The Malaysian Insider, 4 Jul 2009
SINGAPORE, July 4 —Temasek Holdings has finally made its foray into the oil and gas business by clinching its first-ever exploration rights — an Indonesian concession in West Belida onshore Sumatra.
This comes a year after it first set up Orchard Energy, its oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) subsidiary. Things have started moving now that Orchard has an experienced team in place, led by 30-year E&P veteran Tony Tan who crossed over from Singapore Petroleum Company in January to be its CEO.
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SingTel confirms iPhone 3GS coming to Singapore

The Tech Herald, 3 Jul 2009, Stevie Smith
Spreading its smartphone wings to reach further parts of the world, the new third-generation iPhone 3GS handset will soon be dropping onto retail shelves in Singapore after operator SingTel announced a carriage deal for the region.
According to a statement released by Singapore-based SingTel, Asia’s leading telecommunications company, it will begin selling the high-speed iPhone 3GS on July 10.
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Singapore's NEWater reused wastewater passes latest test

Desalination.biz, 3 Jul 2009
The reclaimed wastewater from Singapore's NEWater plants passed its 12th bi-annual drinking-water test by an independent international audit panel with flying colours during the country's Water Week.
The PUB utility reported on 2 July 2009 that the seven-member panel, which meets twice yearly, found NEWater to exceed Singapore national, US Environmental Protection Agency and World Health Organization standards for drinking water.
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Singapore Sun Festival 2009 Promises "First Experiences" For Its Elite Patrons

ThaiPR.net
Asia's premium lifestyle festival ups the ante to feature never-been-seen performances over the 10-day event
The Singapore Sun Festival returns on the 3 to 12 October 2009 to celebrate the Art of Living Well. Featuring over 190 international artists and celebrities in more than 90 events, the Festival, which is held at some of Singapore's leading venues, will also be presenting new elements and several "first experiences" this year.
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Of IDF and SAF

Commentary
The Kent Ridge Common, 3 Jul 2009, Kelvin Teo
SINGAPORE – The ties between Israel and Singapore goes back a long way. When Singapore was a nascent state during its initial post-independence days, the then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew looked to India for assistance in the development of Singapore’s Armed Forces. However, India wasn’t a willing party, and thus, Singapore subsequently turned to Israel.
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