National Day Rally. You should watch/read it.

It give you a better view of Singapore and what's ahead. I might say that he has good presentation skills too!

Here are the first part of his notes.

1.Start by talking about the economy
a.Have not done so in detail in the last few years
b.Economy was doing well, so focused on social issues, e.g. income gap and ageing population
c.But timely to discuss the economy now


GLOBAL
PROBLEMS
2.Last few years, when conditions were good, we did the right thing planning well ahead
a.Restructured and upgraded our economy
b.Good pipeline of projects ­ F1 Grand Prix, IRs, banking, major investments
brought in by EDB
c.Will sustain our momentum and keep our economy growing
d.But dark clouds have gathered in our external environment

3.US faces serious problems
a.House prices have crashed and are still falling
b.Unemployment rising
c.Consumers are losing confidence and spending less
d.Affecting the rest of the world
i.Europe already slowing down sharply
ii.Must expect impact on Asia too
e.These global economic problems will continue at least into next year
i.Some experts think even longer

4.Singapore is starting to feel the impact (background image)
a.Growth has slowed in 2Q
b.Manufacturing sector is affected
c.Exports are weak
d.Tourist arrivals are down ­ even Asian tourists are travelling less
e.Retail stores and restaurants say business is slow

5.This year will see 4-5% growth ­ not bad

6.Next year expect slow growth, and more uncertainties
a.Not predicting a crisis
b.We are competitive and investors still want to be here
c.But we must be vigilant and psychologically prepared for trouble
d.When the global economy recovers, we will bounce back up


INFLATION
7.Hottest issue for Singaporeans is the rising cost of living
a.Inflation is a worldwide problem
i.Price of oil
(1) 8 years ago ­ US$20 per barrel
(2) Today ­ around US$110 per barrel
ii.Price of rice
(1) 8 years ago ­ US$200 per ton
(2) Today ­ around US$800 per ton
b.People are agitated all over the world
i.Demonstrating and rioting
(1) In Europe (background image)
(a) Truckers in France
(b) Farmers in Spain

(2) In Asia
(a) Fuel protests in Indonesia
(b) Food protests in Pakistan
(c)

Rice protests in Philippines, with long queues for subsidised
rice ((<- That's the picture I used! :O ))
ii.In Singapore
(1) Fortunately, we have plenty of rice
(2) No protests or demonstrations
(3) But I know people are also unhappy about price increases
(4) Many pictures on the internet. My favourite
c.Completely understand how Singaporeans feel
i.But we should react rationally
ii.Understand why it is happening to us, and what we can do about it

8.We cannot prevent prices from rising in Singapore
a.We import most of our food, except a few eggs and some fish
b.We import all our fuel, and produce all our electricity from imported oil and
natural gas
c.When world prices go up, how do we keep our rice, petrol, or electricity prices
down?
d.In terms of dollars, wages have not gone down
i.Most workers are earning more dollars this year
ii.Last year was a good year; wages and bonuses went up (background image)
iii.But when we spend money, we find that each dollar has shrunk
iv.With inflation, some of your wage increase went to you, but quite a lot went
to the oil producers
e.Simply put, oil producers (e.g. Arabs and Russians) are now richer, therefore oil
consumers (i.e. us) are now poorer

9.Singaporeans wish the Government would do something to keep prices from rising, e.g. just control prices, and not let them go up
a.But subsidies cost huge sums of money
b.Even oil and gas producers find them hard to sustain
c.Many countries have had to cut their oil subsidies recently, e.g. Indonesia,
Malaysia, China and India

10. We have not fixed electricity price; instead, we have given U-Save
a.i.e. top up your SingPower account with cash
b.Help you directly
c.Lower-income households get more ­ this year's U-Save is equal to 3-6 months
of their utility bills
d.If you can cut down and use less electricity (or gas or water), then the U-Save
money will offset your bills for an even longer time




I believe everyone should read the National Day message every year as it gives us more information on the future we live in, Singapore.

You are not isolated, a studying freak. You study for the sake of the future, therefore you need to try best to know what is already happening around you. Your parents, relatives are not pictures, they age and have went through what you are going through. You are not isolated. Stop living in your own world. Time to take a step up.

Happy National Day!

May it mean more than independence to you.

National Day Speech 2008
by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

My fellow Singaporeans, we celebrate National Day this year in a somewhat guarded mood. The last twelve months have been a period of economic uncertainty worldwide.

Considering the external challenges, Singapore’s economic results are good. For the first half of the year, growth was 4.5%.

For the whole year, we expect growth to be between 4 and 5%. We added 144,000 jobs in the first half, and unemployment remains low, at 2.3%.

The US economy is still facing serious problems. The housing crisis is adding further stress to its financial system.

US consumers are spending less, and that’s affecting the whole global economy. The difficulties will probably drag on well into next year before getting better.

Singapore’s economy has so far been partly buffered, because we’ve been carried along by the vibrancy of the Asian region. But Asian economies are starting to feel the impact of America’s problems, and so are we.

We must therefore prepare ourselves for a bumpy year ahead.

In Southeast Asia, ASEAN has become less prominent on the radar screens of investors, who are more focussed on opportunities in China and India. Several ASEAN countries are pre-occupied with domestic economic and political problems.

However, all ASEAN countries know that we must work together resolutely as a group. Singapore will do our part.

But we must also maintain our reputation in a turbulent region as an economy that is competitive, a society that is cohesive, and a government that is honest and competent.

Against this backdrop we have the problem of inflation, which I am sure is at the top of your minds. We are paying more for the food we eat, the electricity we use, and the fuel for our cars, taxis and buses, and many other things too.

We can’t prevent these prices from going up, when prices are rising worldwide, and we import all our energy and food. But we are lightening the burden on Singaporeans, through the Growth Dividends, U-Save, Workfare, Medifund and ComCare.

These measures are aimed especially at the poor, the elderly, and the sick, but middle-income Singaporeans are getting something too, to help tide over this period.

Some government policies do raise the cost of living, like the GST and ERP increases. But they are essential; otherwise we wouldn’t do them: the GST allows us to finance Workfare and other schemes to help lower-income Singaporeans over the long term, and the ERP keeps our roads free flowing.

Also, please remember that the Government has given GST rebates and road tax reductions, which more than offset the cost increases for most citizens, especially the poor.

I know that Singaporeans wish that prices did not have to rise, or that these policies were not necessary. Unfortunately, this isn’t possible.

But we are doing the next best thing: to put in place effective relief measures, and provide the poor and the needy with the help they need.

We must look beyond immediate problems like the cost of living, to understand what is happening in the world around us, discover new opportunities and tackle our longer-term challenges. Then we’ll strengthen ourselves and be more ready to deal with future crises.

In particular, we need to develop our economy, reproduce our population and keep evolving our system to stay abreast of the changing world.

To achieve our aspirations, we must develop and grow. Unless we can create wealth, we will not have the resources to do anything else.

Because we’ve pushed hard over the last few years when conditions were favourable, we can now look forward to many major projects: the Formula One Grand Prix, the integrated resorts, and huge manufacturing investments like the world’s largest solar cell plant.

These projects will create many good jobs, and keep our momentum up despite the uncertainties ahead.

To upgrade our economy, we must invest in our people, especially through education. We are improving our polytechnics and ITEs, where most of our students go.

We are also expanding university places. The Government has approved plans for a new publicly-funded university.

Its campus will be in Changi, with good bus and train access from around the island. It will admit its first intake in 2011.

This new university will open up more opportunities for Singaporeans to develop themselves and to advance.

To secure our long-term future, we also need enough babies to replace ourselves. Year by year, fewer Singaporeans are getting married, and those who do are having fewer children.

We’ve implemented one measure after another over the years, but we have not succeeded in reversing the trend.

We have to take this very seriously. Marriage and parenthood are personal decisions.

But we can create an environment where Singaporeans see them as a natural and important part of life, and where young couples get support in starting families. We have looked at this comprehensively and will take further steps to address the practical problems which couples face.

I hope more Singaporeans will find fulfilment in bringing up children and setting up a happy family. Let’s make Singapore a good home where citizens lead full, meaningful lives, and experience the joys of bringing up a new generation.

This new generation will grow up in a digital world. The Internet is transforming societies and economies everywhere.

It will change the way we work, learn and live our lives. We must adapt ourselves to it, and use it to educate and engage our cyber-citizens.

We will evolve our policies and rules, our economy and society, to take full advantage. We will continue to open up our system progressively.

This is the right way to go. But we must also be careful to avoid the dangers that lurk in cyberspace, and learn to protect ourselves from them.

All these are long-term issues. Not many countries tackle such issues well. Sometimes, the politics forces the government to focus on fire-fighting, and ignore what happens after the next election.

In other countries, “money politics” corrupts the whole system. Singapore is unique in having a clean and stable, responsible and responsive government.

We’ve avoided the political turbulence that has engulfed several countries around us. We’ve not had strident protests from minority communities who feel unfairly treated. Nor have we had unruly demonstrations for all kinds of reasons real or imagined.

Instead, we choose leaders on merit, build trust between leaders and the people, and work together for the good of all Singaporeans. And this is how Singapore has outperformed other countries.

As we open up, we must preserve these strengths. Please understand that all freedoms come with responsibilities to uphold social stability and security.

Then Singapore will stay attractive to investors, our economy will keep growing, and we can continue achieving the best for our nation.

Despite the uncertainties in our region, and in the world economy, Singapore is in a strong position. In good times and bad, we’ve stayed united, looked over the horizon, and moved carefully but resolutely forward.

On this anniversary of our independence, let us take pride in our achievements, tackle the challenges together and continue to build an even better and more vibrant Singapore.

I wish all Singaporeans a Happy National Day.









My mum gave me a little cash for my Birthday so I made a trip down to Kinokuniya.

Went there with Xie Tang and Zhi Xiong. I bought a few books (4) and it amounted to $127! Wow! That's pretty expensive for just 4 books. Luckily they had 20% discount storewide. That must have been the most amount of money I have ever spent in a book store.

Here are the titles I bought. Feel free to borrow from me once I have finished reading.












Noooooo! I played with Zhi Xiong (I used black) yesterday for Philip cup. I was confident of using most of the time away as I had to make use of my time effectively.

I thought for a very long time during 布 局 , spent like 25 mins. OMG! That was alot. But it was worth it. I was leading by quite alot. I think.





Well, as usual, when I play into middle game, my direction of play suck quite badly due to my inexperience. I eventually screwed myself over with a series of mistakes. In most of my games, you'll see that I won't lose to one 败 着 , I will lose to a series of mistakes. I have to play more games in order to progress faster.





As you can see, the stones marked X are the idiotic moves or the wrong play in direction that caused me to lose. The most craziest thing of all is that I used more time than Zhi Xiong to think. Erm wth? More time than Zhi Xiong!?!?!? OMG! I'm going to faint.

Note to self: Have to use time more effectively.