BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN THE YOUNG AND THE OLD

Have you heard of the Intergenerational Learning Programme (ILP)?

These are courses organised by the Council for Third Age's (C3A) where students from primary and secondary schools, polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education teach senior citizens various subjects like information technology, social media and photography.

It's been so successful that more such courses will be planned over the next few years. They are part of Government's plans to get people to age well in an ageing population and rising life expectancy. 

The courses help the older generation stay in touch with the young while removing whatever misconceptions that the young may have of the old. 

The courses may also evolved into the seniors becoming teachers teaching the young dialects or custom or whatever. The goal is bonding between young and old. 

The government has a $3 billion plan to help Singaporeans age confidently and lead active lives. More details will be released next year.

Second Most Competititive Country For The Fifth Consecutive Year

Singapore beats everyone but Switzerland for the fifth consecutive year. 

Its competitiveness is broad-based – it scores in the top 10 in nine out of the 12 pillars. Its particular strengths are the efficiency of its goods, labour and financial markets and the quality of its higher education and training system. It also scores strongly for its infrastructure, macroeconomic stability and the transparency and efficiency of institutions. Areas for improvement include a relatively low rate of participation of women in the workforce.

The Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016 assesses the competitiveness of 140 world economies. Using a mixture of quantitative and survey data, it ranks countries overall by combining 113 indicators grouped under 12 pillars of competitiveness: institutions; infrastructure; macroeconomic environment; health and primary education; higher education and training; goods market efficiency; labour market efficiency; financial market development; technological readiness; market size; business sophistication; and innovation.

BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN THE YOUNG AND THE OLD

 

Have you heard of the Intergenerational Learning Programme (ILP)?

These are courses organised by the Council for Third Age's (C3A) where students from primary and secondary schools, polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education teach senior citizens various subjects like information technology, social media and photography.

It's been so successful that more such courses will be planned over the next few years. They are part of Government's plans to get people to age well in an ageing population and rising life expectancy.

The courses help the older generation stay in touch with the young while removing whatever misconceptions that the young may have of the old.

The courses may also evolved into the seniors becoming teachers teaching the young dialects or custom or whatever. The goal is bonding between young and old.

The government has a $3 billion plan to help Singaporeans age confidently and lead active lives. More details will be released next year.

Tax Collected Is Less Than Revenue Needed For Budget Expenditure

 

As you can see from the table, the amount of taxes collected is less than what is needed for each year's budget.

The shortfall is made up for by net investment returns from our reserves.

So there is no hoarding of reserves. The NIR (net investment returns) Framework allows the government to treat up to 50% of net investment returns from reserves as revenue for government spending. The other 50% is used to hedge the reserves against inflation.

No Friendly Neighbour

 

New York - Indonesia's Vice-President Jusuf Kalla has reiterated that Indonesia need not apologise to neighbouring countries over haze from forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Indonesia only needs to ensure forest fires that cause haze do not recur, he was quoted as saying on Indonesian news site kompas.com.

"Look at how long they have enjoyed fresh air from our green environment and forests when there were no fires. Could be months. Are they grateful? But when forest fires occur, a month at the most, haze pollutes their regions. So why should there be an apology?" he said during a dialogue session with Indonesians in New York at the Indonesian Consulate-General on Thursday.

http://bit.ly/1Vdsw0i

What Happens To The Money Collected In Fines From Public Transport Operators?

 

What happens to the money that is collected from transport operators through fines for train service disruptions?

They are put into a fund called PUBLIC TRANSPORT FUND which is used to help subsidise fares for needy families.

A PRAGMATIC SINGAPOREAN VOICE AT THE BALLOT BOX

 

 

[It is important to know that true democracy means that people get the freedom to choose their leaders based on the election candidates' competency and values.]

[On the other hand, it is not democratic to demand a strong opposition voice in Parliament, especially if the people did not vote for it.

We should also not be worried that there has been a retreat in democratic values when the majority of people voted strongly for a single party.

The election result did not reflect a devaluing of democratic values in our nation; instead, it reflected that opposition parties in Singapore have not been able to convince people of their competency and values as compared with the ruling party.

It only reflected that Singaporeans are pragmatic, and that most do not vote for diversity and plurality in Parliament for its own sake to support an "ideal democracy", but a democracy that can safeguard our nation's future.

The election just reflected that in our democratic environment, we voted for a strong ruling party that has worked very hard for us for the past 50 years.

The opposition parties need to prove their competence and show that their values work for our young, small, vulnerable nation, if they want to swing the votes in their favour.

Thus, it would be very right to say that our democratic system has given us a monolithic government, governed by an entrenched elite aristocracy.

ST 22 September 2015