Singapore Ageing population

Singapore has one of the fastest aging populations in the world, with over 65-year-olds estimated by 2030 to represent 23% of the population, the second highest percentage in Asia lagging behind only Japan. If current demographic trends hold, the island state's median age will rise from 36 presently to 41 by 2030.

Silver tsunami - referred to the Baby-Boomer generation, those 76,000,000 persons who would begin celebrating their 60th birthdays in 2006.

Baby-Boomers are unlike their parents and grandparents in the following ways:

* Achieving higher levels of education with different quality of life expectations.
* Hold worldviews vastly different.
* Not experienced the same struggles and suffering of the Second World War and Great Depression as their parents and grandparents did.
* Living Longer and have greater physical health.
* Able to take better care of themselves, physcially and financially, less in poverty.
* With high disposal income.

Singapore government has long enforced individual savings through the mandatory Central Provident Fund (CPF). More recently the government has also announced plans to pass a so-called Re-exmployment Act, which will take effect in 2012 and extend the standard retirement age from 62 to 65.

With the growing number of senior citizens and cash-strapped children who are unwilling or unable to shoulder the burden, what are some of the solutions to our ageing population ?

Is ageing population, a looming time bomb for Asia or can be repackaged as a business opportunity ?

The inaugural annual CEO-level conference, Ageing Asia Investment Forum (AAIF) the first conference in Asia, held in Singapore on 5 & 6 April at Pan Pacific Hotel. They included business and government leaders from the Netherlands, USA, China, India, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Malalysia.

It focused on key growth industries - Property, Nursing, Healthcare, Wellness, Finance and Investment. By 2050, the number of people in Asia above 60 years of age is expected to be
1.2 billion, four times higher than Europe and the United States, combined. In Asia-Pacific, baby boomer consumers control an estimated wealth of us$11.3 trillion, 35% of the total.

That prospect has led to rapid job creation in the health and social service sectors. Property developers are also cashing in by building multimillion-dollar integrated retirement villages and private residences catering to the needs of the elderly.

What are your visions on your retirement plans ? Share your comments with us.
Photo extracted from Straits Times article 6/4/2010 -Riding on silver tsunami.

Singapore Circle Line another 11 stations opened

At last the long awaited opening of the Circle Line's (CCL) 11 new MRT stations opened on Saturday, 17 April 2010, joining the 5 stations - Marymount to Bartley - which were opened on 28 May 2009. This is part of the 29-station line, 33.3 km long.

These 11 stations, Tai Seng - Dhoby Ghaut, opened to much fanfare. From now,catching a concert at the Esplanade, support your favourite football team at the National Studium, and shop at Plaza Singapura is just a train-ride away from one another and linking these parts of town to the suburbs.

A summary of the 11 stations are :
1) Dhoby Ghaut station
2) Bras Basah station
3) Esplanade station
4) Promenade station
5) Nicoll Highway station
6) Tai Seng station
7) Stadium station
8) Mountbatten station
9) Dakota station
10) Paya Lebar station
11) MacPherson station

As at 8pm Saturday, SMRT had a ridership of some 220,000. Over at the Stadium Station, we
had the Taiwanese pop band SHE event and Taiwanese rock band Mayday's concerts.

Before the opening of Stadium Station, concert-goers had to go to the Kallang MRT Station, transfer to a bus or walk to reach the Singapore Indoor Stadium. With the opening of Stadium Station, which is withing walking distance to the one of Singapore's most popular concert venues. Cheers to all concert-goers.

1) The Dhoby Ghaut and Paya Lebar interchange stations will allow commuters who are travelling to and from the east, north and north-east to bypass City Hall and Raffles Place.

a) Paya Lebar to Bishan, 17 minutes instead of current 35 minutes.
b) Kovan to Suntec City, 26 minutes instead of current 40 minutes.

The original budget of $6.7 billion was busted after a tunnel near Nicoll Highway collapsed in 2004, killing four workers. Since then, all underground works had to be made far more robust and changes made for some stations. Also with the increasing cost of raw materials like sand, concrete and steel from year 2007, it definitely has pushed the cost up. What is your guess of the cost of the entire project may reach, $10 billions ?

The Circle Line Stage 3 that connects Bishan on the North-South Line and Serangoon station on the NEL was opened for revenue service on 28 May 2009. More stations on the Circle Line such as the Thomson and West Coast Stations will be opened subsequently to enhance the reach and connectivity of the Circle Line, and allow more people to benefit from the MRT. The remaining stretch of the line will open some time next year, he said. It lies in the northwestern and western parts of Singapore, with stations at places such as Holland Village, Botanic Gardens and the National University of Singapore.

To enhance the accessibility of the Marina Bay area to the rest of the island, LTA will also build and open the Marina Bay station as part of the CCL extension beyond Bayfront station in 2012.

Alkaff Mansion for public tender in Singpaore

Sitting majestically atop Mount Faber, The Alkaff Mansion was built in 1918 by a wealthy trader and philantropist,named Syed Abdul Rahman Alkaff who came to Singapore from Yemen. It was one of Singapore's more expensive and elegant resturant, offering international cuisine and an Indonesian-Dutch Rijsttafel buffet. It was located on Bukit Jagoh (the old name for Telok Blangah Hill) and was also known as Mount Washington. The house sits along the Mount Faber Ridge and had a commanding a panoramic view of Singapore Harbour.
1) The Alkaff Mansion was sold after World War II.
2) In 1986 the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board restored it to become a restaurant.
3) In 2003, the restaurant ceased operation again due to economics reason.

Alkaff Mansion is located at 10 Telok Blangah Green, Singapore 109178.

The property has a land area of 96,699 sq ft and a gross floor area of 13,142 sq ft. An outdoor refreshment area (up to 969 sq ft) may be allowed subject to evaluation Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has launched a tender to lease out the property, which has conservation status, for the following uses - food & beverage/ restaurant, art gallery, wellness/spa facilities and museum. The guide rent is $28,100 per month and SLA will issue an initial tenancy term of three years, renewable for a further two terms of three years each.

Take a look at the first 3 highest value bidders :
1) The two-month-old company,LES, topped the tender with a monthly rent offer of $79,251,

which is about three times the SLA's monthly guide rent of $28,100.

2) The second-highest bidder is listed Fragrance Group, with a monthly rent offer of $41,300.

3) The third-highest bidder is Bakerzin Holdings with a monthly rent offer of $36,380.

The two-storey property is said to have been left vacant since former tenant Hotel Properties Ltd returned it to Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in 2004, when its 15-year lease expired.

The tender closes at 11 am on April 6. Bids will be evaluated on tender price, concept and proposed uses, among other factors.

What is your opinions on how bids will be evaluated ? Should you prefer the SLA selects the

bidder that offers the highest rent, or SLA should choose the operator with the best concept
or product ?

Do let us have your comments here. Most welcome to comment.
Photo extracted fr ST PHOTO: DESMOND LIM

First made-in-Singapore satellite launching soon

Singapore is ready to head to space with the country's first satellite built from scratch. With the launch of the 120kg satellite, Singapore is believed to be the first Southeast Asian country that will have its own locally built satellite in space.

Work began as early as nine years ago.The estimated cost of the satellite is about 40 million Singapore dollars (about US$29 million. X-Sat, a micro-satellite about the size of a refrigerator will be expected to launch in June or July 2010 from India's Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh, 100km north of Chennai.

The X-Sat, expected to spend three years in orbit at a height of 800 km, will take photos to measure soil erosion and monitor environmental changes, the communications systems on the satellite will also be able to relay information from sensors to a ground station at NTU, according to articles in ST 29 March 2010.

Other countries like China, US and Isreael, with more established space programmes has launched more sophisticated satellites weighing between 500kg and 1,000kg every year. These include spy and communications satellites by military agencies.

While the X-Sat is small, it is still a credible effort by Singapore.The fact that not many countries in the world have this capability to build their own imaging and communications satellite,is an achievement to Singapore.

AIG and Prudential on possible merger

AIG, which is nearly 80 percent owned by the U.S. government and is trying to pay back taxpayers after a $182.3 billion bailout, had been planning an initial public offering for AIA in Hong Kong, when Prudential jumped in with an offer.

Lately the latest news that Britain's largest insurer, Prudential plc confirmed that it has reached an agreement to merge with AIA Group, the Asian life insurance business wholly owned by American International Group (AIG).

On March 1 2010, AIG agreed to sell AIA to Prudential for US$35.5 billion (S$50 billion), comprising US$25 billion in cash, and US$10.5 billion in shares and other securities.

Prudential arranged with Credit Suisse, HSBC and JP Morgan Cazenove to underwrite a US$20 billion rights issue of shares and US$5 billion of senior debt to raise the US$25 billion in cash. Prudential agreed to pay AIG a break fee of & pound 153 million (S$322 million) if it failed to complete the purchase within 12 months.

The merger, which ranks as the largest insurance M&A ever, will create a life insurance powerhouse in Asia with more than 20 million customers and businesses in 15 countries. It will also provide AIG with much needed cash as it strives to repay the $182.3 billion.

Now a bit of the history,American International Assurance (AIA),founded in 1919, is the Asian insurance business of American International Group (AIG). AIA is a major player in 15 Asian markets, with 23 million policies in force for more than 10 million customers and a sales force of 320,000 agents.

Faced with financial difficulties, AIG had planned to divest AIA through an initial public offering (IPO) of shares in the company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. However, British insurer Prudential pre-empted the IPO.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange announcing the acquisition, Prudential remarked that the combination of AIA and Prudential would be 'the leading life insurer in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines'.

It would be one of the largest overseas deals to date for a British firm and make Prudential one of the biggest insurers in Asia.

For Prudential, one of the key benefits is to establish itself as an industry leader in seven Asian markets. In Singapore, the combined company would be responsible for 28 per cent of all non-investment-linked life insurance policies in force. It would command an even larger share, 59 per cent, of all investment-linked life insurance policies in force. The market share of the combined company in new policies would be similar.

To show how important is this merger, soon after the agreement, Prudential chief executive officer (CEO) Tidjane Thiam made a flying visit to the region with AIG chief Robert Benmosche. Together, they met staff and agents to reassure them of their future with the combined company. In Singapore, about 800 staff and agents attended a town hall-style meeting at Suntec City with the two CEOs. Apparently, Mr Benmosche and Mr Thiam also met government regulators.

The extent to which a merger or acquisition limits competition depends in part on the market shares of the respective parties. In the AIA-Prudential case, as the figures above illustrate, the market shares vary with the market. Clearly, there will have to be deep analysis and discussions about the definition of the market in each instance.

The Prudential acquisition of AIA potentially affects millions of policyholders. From the consumer viewpoint, this may perhaps be one of the most impactful cases to come before the competition authorities in the region.

Incredible Versatile root vegetable - Radish

Do you know that radish, a popular root vegetable in Chinese and Japanese cuisine is also known for its health promoting properties.

According to the article extracted from The Straits Times dated 4, 2010. this root vegetable is rich in vitamins A, B and C, calcium and potassium. It has an extremely low calorie content - an 85g portion has only 18 calories.

Daikon, radish in Japanese, is promoted by traditional Chinese physicians as a " cooling" food that is good for those who have phlegm, cough and fever.

I have appended below the recipe extracted from the article. I hope we can try it out and share our comments on the results of our cooking.

Daikon Beef Soup :

Ingredients :
1 small radish ( daikon), 500g, peeled
1 large carrot, 300g, peeled
300g lean beef cubes ( more if you want)
3-6 cloves garlic
1 large knob of ginger, peeled and bruised
1 tsp cracked black peppercorns
1/2 tsp sea salt ( optional )
1.5 litre water
Spring onions, finely diced for garnish

Method
Cut carrots and daikon into chunks of about the same size.
Blanch beef in hot water to remove surface impurities.
Place all ingredients, except salt, in a slow cooker and cook on medium heat for three hours or on low heat for six hours.
If you are not using a slow cooker, simmer over a low heat for two to 2-1/2 hours.
Check on the dish halfway through the cooking process and top up with water if needed.
Serve with brown rice and kimchi for a healthy Korean-inspired meal.

How a Heart Attack happens

What Causes a Heart Attack?

The medical term for heart attack is myocardial infarction. A heart attack is also sometimes called a coronary thrombosis or coronary occlusion.

The heart is a muscle that acts as a pump. The heart pumps blood, rich in carbon dioxide and depleted of oxygen, through the lungs. The lungs remove carbon and add oxygen. Once oxygenated, the blood returns to the heart to be
pumped to the rest of the body. After blood circulates through body tissues, it is returned to the heart and the process is repeated.

The heart muscle requires a constant supply of oxygen-rich blood to nourish it. Most heart attacks occur as a result of coronary artery disease (CAD). CAD is the buildup over time of a material called plaque on the inner walls of the coronary arteries. The plaque deposits are hard on the outside and soft and mushy on the inside. With blood flow impeded, the heart becomes starved for oxygen, causing chest pain. (angina). If a blood clot forms and completely obstructs the artery, a heart attack (myocardial infarction) can occur.

If the blood supply is cut off for more than a few minutes, muscle cells suffer permanent injury and die. This can kill or disable someone, depending on how much heart muscle is damaged.


Symptoms of a heart attack can include:

* Chest pain, discomfort, pressure, squeezing or fullness
* Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, shoulders, neck, jaw or stomach
* Shortness of breath
* Feeling sweaty, nauseous or lightheaded

Not all these symptoms happen in every heart attack. Heart attack symptoms may start slowly and gradually get worse or they may go away and come back.

If your heart disease is severe, or if your chest pain and other symptoms can't be controlled with medicines, you may need to think about other treatment, such as:

* Angioplasty.
* Stenting.
* Atherectomy.
* Coronary artery bypass surgery.

These treatments, along with making changes like eating right and not smoking, can help you live a longer, healthier life. If your disease becomes much worse, it can lead to serious medical problems. Many important end-of-life decisions can be made while you are active and able to communicate your wishes.