DREAMING

Family resolution for the New Year Just say "No" to wireless, that’s my family resolution for the New Year. Children and adults alike are spending too much time on the net. We should be getting together as a family to create stronger bonds. Finding time to eat together as a family and maintain a healthier lifestyle are the two topmost on my list. Children who eat frequently with their families, for example, and actually sit down together at the family dinner table have healthier diets than those who do not. Studies have shown that children eating with their parents were eating less fast food, less soft drinks, and consuming more fruits and vegetables. What children eat in childhood and adolescence years determine their dietary patterns over time. As parents, this means we have to set good, healthful patterns earlier in life. Family dinnertime also plays an important role in parenting. Having dinner as a family shows that parents are engaged in the lives of their children. It ...

Overpopulation There was an article in the local newspaper titled "Is Singapore getting too crowded?" In today's context, I feel it is indeed apt to say that Singapore IS 'over-crowded'. To quote a statement from the writer - "The only measure of density is the quality of life. If you find yourself unable to be polite and civil, then it's dense". There is absolutely no way to be 'tolerant' when you are very sick, with little money, yet have to wait for 4 hours to see a doctor in a government hospital or polyclinic. Neither can one be tolerant when one’s wife is giving birth in a hospital and yet the husband is stuck in a road full of vehicles and traffic lights. The list ran on...it is getting twice or thrice more difficult to travel across the island, or to see a medical practitioner etcetera... There are now 5.8 billion human beings on the planet, and according to the United Nations, the population of earth is expected to grow to around 7....

Allow more competition – a laissez-faire mode of transportation environment in Singapore The recent furore about public transport raising fares and setting of service standards highlights a starkly truth - there are no competition per se for public transportation in Singapore. There are only two main public transport operators in Singapore. They are SBS-Transit and Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT). SBS-Transit is the major bus operator in Singapore whilst SMRT operates fewer buses. No wonder SMRT's decision to raise fares for MRT, LRT and bus services have drawn mixed reactions from the public; some were indignant about the raise, others have resigned their fate to it. The irony of this is SMRT has reported a 6.8 percent on-year increase in its first quarter profit for 2006! For the three months to June, it booked earnings of S$27.3 million! Revenue reached S$180.2 million from S$176.1 million. This rather peculiar situation comes about because of little, if any, competition. W...