Collin Ng's Blog

Penned by David Mason, a former partner of Price Waterhouse and is now running his own consultancy in business communications in the United Kingdom. His article first appeared in the Business Times on 25 Oct, Tuesday and also in the Straits Time on 27 Oct, Thursday. Quote I've been coming to Singapore for the last 48 years, which makes me feel ancient. Mind you, the first visit in 1963 was merely a one-day stopover on a ship back to the United Kingdom. We berthed at what is now the container terminal and I bought my first transistor radio at what is now Raffles Place, from a small shop which was near Change Alley. We could not afford Robinsons on other side of the park. Immediately, I can hear young Singaporeans saying: "Huh?" Singapore has changed dramatically. I came to live here in 1979 and stayed until 1997. Since then, I have worked here on and off every year and have had the opportunity to see the place change and grow. Modern Singapore is a success story. From...

This is taken from Malaysia politician, YB Lim Kit Siang's blog post, http://blog.limkitsiang.com/2011/10/23/four-nations-four-lessons/ by this gentleman, Gregory Mankiw. Quote By N. GREGORY MANKIW The New York Times October 22, 2011 AS the economy languishes, politicians and pundits are debating what to do next. When we look around the world, it’s hard to find positive role models. But as we search for answers, it is useful to keep in mind those fates that we would like to avoid. The recent economic histories of four nations are noteworthy: France, Greece, Japan and Zimbabwe. Each illustrates a kind of policy mistake that could, if we are not careful, presage the future of the United States economy. Think of them as the four horsemen of the economic apocalypse. Let’s start with Zimbabwe. If there were an award for the world’s worst economic policy, it might well have won it several times over the past decade. In particular, in 2008 and 2009, it experienced truly spectacular hyperi...

This was my second cycling event this year, experienced my first with OCBC in Singapore earlier this year and following suit, its Malaysia edition. I enjoyed the Singapore edition and was certainly keen to partake in the Malaysia one which was a first by OCBC. I managed to convince my running mate, Chua to join me though Chua is not as avid as me when it comes to cycling. The event was scheduled on 16 Oct, Sunday. We planned to be in KL one day prior; to check out the venue and to collect our kits, among others. I had booked DoubleTree by Hilton, the official hotel of the event but to our dismay, it was 'official in name' as not much of publicity could be found at the hotel premises, save for a lone pull-out banner displayed at one corner of the lift lobby. It is a nice and comfy hotel, no doubt. I picked up Chua at his place in Bukit Panjang before 7am on Saturday as we had to cross the Woodlands causeway before 8am if we wanted to avoid the heavy jam later. We managed ...

Taken from the blog of Malaysian veteran politician, YB Lim Kit Siang, an article written by a Douglas Tan from The Malaysian Insider. Many Singaporeans, especially the Gen Y are grumbling about living in Singapore, the high cost, lack of freedom, among others but alot more Malaysians are eager to seek lives outside, read on. Quote — Douglas Tan The Malaysian Insider Oct 12, 2011 OCT 12 — Recently, YB Teresa Kok asked me, “Why are Malaysians so keen to leave this country? Life overseas is not necessarily easier!” I agree that life overseas is not necessarily so. In fact, my cousins living in Hong Kong, Singapore and London tell me regularly that they miss the food and that everything is much cheaper at home (except cars). They complain about the weather, high cost of living and their long working hours. Despite this, when the possibility of coming back home is raised, they give me a smile and a shake of their head. Is living in Malaysia really so bad? What is it that other countr...

It was my first outing organised by YMCA but for sure, won't be my last with them after this enjoyable trip. We've found good new company, especially the senior citizens among us. The trip was scheduled on 8 Oct, Saturday and the 6 of us, Dora, CK, Kiat Sing, Kany, Yan Ping and me had arranged to meet at Woodlands station by 0645 hrs to take a Johor bound TIBS bus over to Singapore Woodlands check-point where we were supposed to link up with the rest. Unfortunately, we later learnt from Kiat Sing that Kany and Yan Ping had taken ill thus had to give this trip a miss. We arrived at Singapore check-point before 0700 hrs, early for us as the meet up was scheduled at 0730 hrs. While waiting, we witnessed an accident. A Malaysia registered combi was making a reverse which rammed into another Malaysia registered combi. Not a major accident, the rear of one dented the front of the other. Quickly, Dora took down the number plates of the two combis (cannot remember the number no...

With permission from Malaysia opposition MP, YB Tony Pua, this article by Sara Lau was taken from his blog. Quote Sara Lau is a lawyer who has recently graduated from Reading and will be completing her bar in London. She interned with me in August and below are her thoughts. “You are young, talented, hardworking and determined – where do you want to go after you graduate?” I have always thought myself optimistic about my country. When people asked me whether I wanted to stay or leave after my studies, I always answered that I wanted to be a lawyer in Malaysia – to work for my community and my country. When my peers told me that their parents told them to run, I was judgmental of them. To me, they were quitters. Maybe Malaysia was not in a good economic place at the moment, but I was so sure in my heart that this will come to pass. On closer inspection, I realised it was not just because of the returns and low wages in Malaysia that was making them run... I called myself an optimist, bu...