Singapore is in the midst of the worst economic crisis with unemployment near 4 percent and close to 100,000 jobs are expected to be lost this year. So what are we celebrating this August 9th National Day in the shadows of the unprecedented economic crisis?
(Source: FORUM-ASIA member Think Centre, 7 August 2009)
Singapore is in the midst of the worst economic crisis with unemployment near 4 percent and close to 100,000 jobs are expected to be lost this year. So what are we celebrating this August 9th National Day in the shadows of the unprecedented economic crisis?
Making Singapore a better place for you and for me 2009 will be remembered as a year of double whammy for Singapore. The U.S financial meltdown and the onslaught of the AH1N1 influenza has dramatically attacked the economic and physical well-being of Singaporeans. The government has promised through its rheotorics that no Singaporean would be left behind or let down by the crises. This government has also boasted its convictions of ensuring skills retraining, jobs creation and health care subsidies to tide Singaporeans through this dark patch.
The dark cloud forewarned last year has descended upon us Click here
The days of heady economic growth that she enjoyed in recent years had ended abruptly, marked by the sudden demise of the venerable American financial megalith, Lehman Brothers, an institution notably older than
Singapore’s 44 years of age.
In fact, Singapore is in the midst of the worst economic crisis with unemployment near 4 percent and close to 100,000 jobs are expected to be lost this year. So what are we celebrating this August 9th National Day in the shadows of the unprecedented economic crisis? By the way, ASEAN Day is on August 8th, how will ASEAN economic integration create decent jobs for all?
ASEAN and Singapore
It may be a mere coincidence that our national day is celebrated one day after 8th August, a date that commemorates the establishment of ASEAN. But it is no mere chance that Singapore is an intrinsic part of ASEAN through the
indisputable fact of geography, common history, strong economic ties and political heritage. The significance is all the more apparent when she played an integral role in encouraging the other members of ASEAN in signing and ratifying the ASEAN Charter, a historic document that confers the regional body a legal status, which allows recognition from international organisations like the European Union and African Union and the United Nations.
The aim of integrating ASEAN economically by 2015, would stand to Singapore’s immense benefit as she gets access to a combined market of 570 million people, and even more so when taking into consideration via ASEAN
economic linkages with India’s and China’s markets.
To read the complete statement, please click here (Think Centre).
