The world is rapidly aging. A whopping two billion people will be 60 years and older by 2050, more than triple the number in 2000, according the World Health Organization.
This demographic change has major implications for the global economy. Some of the world's biggest economies are facing rising health-care costs, a shrinking workforce, higher pension costs and diminishing fertility rates. Many countries have already begun adapting to their increasingly aging populations by raising the retirement age, reducing pension benefits and spending more on elderly care.
We've come up with a list of countries with the starkest gap between the number of old and the number of young. We calculated the number of people aged 65 and older for every person 14 years and younger. We've also provided statistics on the percentage of the total population aged 65 and above as well as the percentage aged 14 years and below.
The population numbers are from the CIA World Factbook, while we used organizations such as the World Bank, United Nations (UN), and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to illustrate demographic trends.
So, which countries have the biggest gap between old and young? Click ahead to find out
10. Latvia
Old/young ratio: 1.251:1
65 years & over: 16.9%
0-14 years: 13.5%
With one of the world's oldest populations, Latvia is expected to lose more than a tenth of its of 2.3 million people between 2000 and 2025 , according to the World Bank.
The Baltic state is also the only country on our top 10 list that has more than double the number of elderly women (252,000) than men (122,000). In fact, women live 10 years longer than men in Latvia, which is among the highest gaps in life expectancy between genders in the European Union, according to the United Nations. On the whole, the country has seen its population decline at a rate of 0.5 percent annually from 2006 to 2010, while the percentage of people aged 65 and over has steadily increased.
Not only is Latvia facing a rapidly aging population, the country's ability to support the old took a big hit during the 2009 financial crisis, when its economy suffered the deepest recession in the EU, nosediving 18 percent.
The government had to drastically cut its budget for a $10.2 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and EU . The austerity measures, which sparked a strong reaction from protesters (pictured), included a 10 percent cut in old-age pensions, and a massive 70 percent reduction in pensions for those still working. Pensioners account for 25 percent of Latvia's population, while the labour force makes up only 43 percent, according to former Finance Ministry State Secretary Martins Bicevskis.
Photo: Christian Kober | Getty Images
9. Slovenia
Old/young ratio: 1.253:1
65 years & over: 16.8%
0-14 years: 13.4%
The retirement age in Slovenia is currently among the lowest in the EU, at 57 for women and 58 for men.
Part of the former Yugoslav republic, which was once considered a successful model for post-communist transition, is now facing a series of credit rating downgrades as its economy struggles with a high budget deficit, political instability and an expensive state pension system. Government reform to raise Slovenia's retirement age was rejected in a referendum in June of last year, dealing a major blow to the country's plans to control its ballooning public debt. The World Bank predicts the average age for Slovenia will be 47.4 years in 2025 — among the oldest in the world.
The rapidly aging population has been a big burden on Slovenia's budget. From 2003 to 2009, the average annual increase in health expenditure was 7.1 percent, while GDP growth in the same period was 5.9 percent , according to the government figures. In 2009 alone, the nominal health expenditure grew by 7.1 percent, while Slovenia's GDP contracted 5.3 percent. Despite the increase in health-care spending, Slovenia is still below the average for OECD countries. Total health spending accounted for 9.3 percent of its GDP, compared to average of 9.5 percent in OECD countries in 2009.
Sweden. Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand | AFP | Getty Images
8. Sweden
Old/young ratio: 1.27:1
65 years & over: 19.7%
0-14 years: 15.4%
Sweden is the only country in Scandinavia, a region heralded for its quality of life, to make the top 10 list of the world's oldest populations.
The country's elderly population has steadily increased from 17 percent of the total population in 2006 to 18 percent in 2010, while its population of people aged up to 14 years has remained at 17 percent since 2005, according to the World Bank. Seniors will account for nearly 30 percent of the Swedish population by 2040, according the Global Aging Preparedness (GAP) Index. But, despite its aging population, a recent study by asset management firm Allianz Global Investors showed that Sweden has the second-most sustainable pension system out of 44 major economies, thanks to a highly developed and privately funded system which lessens the burden on public finances. Swedes contribute 18.5 percent of their income to the national pension system.
In December, the government pledged $617 million over the next few years to improve elderly care after a series of highly publicized senior care scandals in recent months. An IMF study from June 2011 has ranked Sweden as the 7th country out of the world's 20 major economies to have the best living standard for the elderly.
Austria. Photo: Westend61 | Getty Images
7. Austria
Old/young ratio: 1.3:1
65 years & over: 18.2%
0-14 years: 14%
Austria's population has the fifth-highest percentage of people aged 65 and over in the world, tied with European counterparts Sweden, Portugal, Latvia and Bulgaria, according to the World Bank.
The country's 65 and over population has gone up from 16 percent of the total population in 2006 to 18 percent in 2010, while its population of people aged 14 and under has declined from 16 percent to 15 percent in the same period. Public pension spending was 12.3 percent of Austria's GDP in 2008, over 5 percent higher than in the average of OECD countries. Austria also has only 3.5 people of working age for every person aged 65 and over, which is below the OECD average of 4.2 workers.
Men in Austria can currently retire as early as 62, while women can retire at 57. There are nearly 245,000 more women aged 65 and over in the country than men, according to the CIA Factbook. The OECD warned Austria last year that the country needs to cut government debt by curbing early retirement and eliminating early pensions. Last week, the country lost its top-notch credit rating, when it was downgraded by Standard & Poor's to AA+.
Bulgaria. Photo: Dimitar Dilkoff | AFP | Getty Images
6. Bulgaria
Old/ young ratio: 1.31:1
65 years & over: 18.2%
0-14 years: 13.9%
Bulgaria is one of three Eastern European countries to make the list of the world's 10 oldest populations. It is also one of only 16 countries in the world that saw their populations decline by more than 5,000 people between 2000 and 2005, according to the World Bank.
Bulgaria's elderly population increased from 17 percent in 2006 to 18 percent in 2010, while its young population aged up to 14 years has remained steady at 14 percent of the total population since 2003, according to the World Bank. By 2025, more than one in five Bulgarians will be older than 65, up from just 13 percent in 1990.
With its rapidly aging population, the Bulgarian government raised the official retirement age by four months starting this year for every year until it reaches 63 for women and 65 for men, up from 60 and 63 respectively. The government backtracked from plans to raise the retirement age by one year in 2012 after thousands of workers stormed through the capital in protest . For its 2.5 million workers, Bulgaria has 2.2 million retired people. It is also the poorest member of the EU, with the lowest GDP per capita, according to Eurostat.
Greece. Photo: Louisa Gouliamaki | AFP | Getty Images
5. Greece
Old/young ratio: 1.38:1
65 years & over: 19.6%
0-14 years: 14.2%
Greece has the world's weakest pension system, crippled by high levels of sovereign debt, low retirement ages and a high ratio of pensioners to workers, according a recent study by Allianz Global Investors.
The country's population of people aged 65 and over has increased from 18 percent in 2006 to 19 percent in 2010, while the group of people aged between 15 and 64 has remained at 67 percent since 2004, according to the World Bank. With nearly one-quarter of Greece's 11 million people retired, pension payments are a major burden on the economy, which is being kept afloat by the EU and IMF bailout funds.
The country made headlines last year for welfare fraud when the government revealed that thousands of dead Greeks were still receiving pensions . Data in June showed that 4,500 deceased civil servants continued to receive pension payments, costing the taxpayer $20.5 million a year. Pressured by international lenders, the country has been forced to make sweeping reforms of its pension system. Now, fewer than 10 percent of Greeks can retire before 65. In 2010, some Greeks could retire as early as 40 years of age on a reduced pension.
Italy. Photo: Giorgio Cosulich | Getty Images
4. Italy
Old/young ratio: 1.47:1
65 years & over: 20.3%
0-14 years: 13.8%
People over the age of 60 will make up a whopping 40 percent of Italy's population by 2040 compared to over 25 percent in 2007, according the GAP Index.
The country has seen its elderly population remain at 20 percent from 2005 to 2010, while the younger population of people aged 0 to 14 years hasn't grown since 1999, remaining at 14 percent. Italy's public spending on pensions is the highest in the EU, at over 16 percent of GDP compared to an average of 11 percent for the bloc.
Once considered one of the most generous pension systems in Europe, Italy's government took a hatchet to the current scheme by announcing a series of austerity measures to reform the welfare system in December . The country has one of the lowest employment rates in the region, in part because people retire long before the European average. Only 37.4 percent of Italians aged 55 to 64 still work, compared to an EU average of 47.5 percent. The new measures would see the minimum pension age for both men and women raised in stages to 66 by 2018 with incentives to keep workers employed until 70.
Germany. Photo: Thomas Grass | Getty Images
3. Germany
Old/young ratio: 1.54:1
65 years & over: 20.6%
0-14 years: 13.3%
Germany is the most populous European country and the second-biggest economy to make the list of the world's oldest populations.
The country has seen its 65 and over population increase from 19 percent in 2006 to 20 percent in 2010, while the young generation aged 0 to 14 has declined from 14 percent to 13 percent in the same period, according to the World Bank. The percentage of people aged 15 to 64 has gone down to 66 percent in 2010, compared to 69 percent two decades ago, in part explaining the labor shortage the country faces in some sectors. Eurostat predicts there will be less than two people of working age for every retired person in Germany by 2040.
While the European economic power maintains a healthy economy for now, having among the worst demographic stats in the world could lead to rising public spending and debt in years to come. Germany has nearly 2.3 million more women aged 65 and over compared to men. Despite women living longer, they also typically have smaller pension savings than men at retirement. On the whole, nearly 60 percent of Germans between the ages of 55 and 64 work, compared to just 40.7 percent of Greeks, according to EU statistics.
Japan. Photo: Ryouchin | Getty Images
2. Japan
Old/young ratio: 1.74:1
65 years & over: 22.9%
0-14 years: 13.1%
Japan is the largest economy to make the list of the world's oldest populations. It is also the only country outside of Europe in the rankings.
With the highest life expectancy in the world at 86, people aged 60 and over will account for over 43 percent of Japan's population by 2040, according to the GAP Index. Currently, one in four people are over the age of 65. On the other end, its population of people aged 15 to 64 fell four percentage points in the 10-year period from 2000 to 2010, while people aged up to 14 years fell two percentage points in the same period. Last year, the country made headlines when data showed that its population grew at its slowest pace since 1920 in the five years to 2010.
Slowing population growth indicates that Japan will find it more difficult to spread its debt burden and the rising costs of an aging society, among the working population. Japan is already the most indebted industrial nation with a public debt that is double its $5 trillion economy. Lonely elderly people have also become a growing social problem in the country. In 2010, 4.6 million elderly lived alone in Japan. The number of seniors that died at home alone increased by 61 percent between 2003 and 2010, according to official figures. In August, the government introduced measures for postmen to check up on people over 65 once a month by handing them seasonal greeting cards.
Monaco. Photo: Valery Hache | AFP | Getty Images
1. Monaco
Old/young ratio: 2.18:1
65 years & over: 26.9%
0-14 years: 2.18%
Monaco, one of the world's most densely populated countries, is home to the oldest population. It leads eight other European countries in the top 10 list. But the country is also a bit of a statistical anomaly because its status as a tax haven makes it a big draw for the wealthy and the retired rich.
With an estimated population of 30,539, the country saw its population decline in 2011 by 0.12 percent, according the to CIA Factbook. Only around 8,000 people are citizens of the city-state. The proportion of Monaco's population aged 65 and over is 26.9 percent, the highest in Western Europe, where the average is 16.5 percent, according to a 2011 study by research firm Euromonitor.
The median age of Monaco's population is 49.4 years, according to the CIA Factbook. With its older demographic, Monaco spent just 1.2 percent of its GDP in 2009 on education, according to the World Bank. In an effort to attract young professionals and entrepreneurs to boost its economy, Prince Albert launched a new consular
10. Latvia
Old/young ratio: 1.251:1
65 years & over: 16.9%
0-14 years: 13.5%
With one of the world's oldest populations, Latvia is expected to lose more than a tenth of its of 2.3 million people between 2000 and 2025 , according to the World Bank.
The Baltic state is also the only country on our top 10 list that has more than double the number of elderly women (252,000) than men (122,000). In fact, women live 10 years longer than men in Latvia, which is among the highest gaps in life expectancy between genders in the European Union, according to the United Nations. On the whole, the country has seen its population decline at a rate of 0.5 percent annually from 2006 to 2010, while the percentage of people aged 65 and over has steadily increased.
Not only is Latvia facing a rapidly aging population, the country's ability to support the old took a big hit during the 2009 financial crisis, when its economy suffered the deepest recession in the EU, nosediving 18 percent.
The government had to drastically cut its budget for a $10.2 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and EU . The austerity measures, which sparked a strong reaction from protesters (pictured), included a 10 percent cut in old-age pensions, and a massive 70 percent reduction in pensions for those still working. Pensioners account for 25 percent of Latvia's population, while the labour force makes up only 43 percent, according to former Finance Ministry State Secretary Martins Bicevskis.
Photo: Christian Kober | Getty Images
9. Slovenia
Old/young ratio: 1.253:1
65 years & over: 16.8%
0-14 years: 13.4%
The retirement age in Slovenia is currently among the lowest in the EU, at 57 for women and 58 for men.
Part of the former Yugoslav republic, which was once considered a successful model for post-communist transition, is now facing a series of credit rating downgrades as its economy struggles with a high budget deficit, political instability and an expensive state pension system. Government reform to raise Slovenia's retirement age was rejected in a referendum in June of last year, dealing a major blow to the country's plans to control its ballooning public debt. The World Bank predicts the average age for Slovenia will be 47.4 years in 2025 — among the oldest in the world.
The rapidly aging population has been a big burden on Slovenia's budget. From 2003 to 2009, the average annual increase in health expenditure was 7.1 percent, while GDP growth in the same period was 5.9 percent , according to the government figures. In 2009 alone, the nominal health expenditure grew by 7.1 percent, while Slovenia's GDP contracted 5.3 percent. Despite the increase in health-care spending, Slovenia is still below the average for OECD countries. Total health spending accounted for 9.3 percent of its GDP, compared to average of 9.5 percent in OECD countries in 2009.
Sweden. Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand | AFP | Getty Images
8. Sweden
Old/young ratio: 1.27:1
65 years & over: 19.7%
0-14 years: 15.4%
Sweden is the only country in Scandinavia, a region heralded for its quality of life, to make the top 10 list of the world's oldest populations.
The country's elderly population has steadily increased from 17 percent of the total population in 2006 to 18 percent in 2010, while its population of people aged up to 14 years has remained at 17 percent since 2005, according to the World Bank. Seniors will account for nearly 30 percent of the Swedish population by 2040, according the Global Aging Preparedness (GAP) Index. But, despite its aging population, a recent study by asset management firm Allianz Global Investors showed that Sweden has the second-most sustainable pension system out of 44 major economies, thanks to a highly developed and privately funded system which lessens the burden on public finances. Swedes contribute 18.5 percent of their income to the national pension system.
In December, the government pledged $617 million over the next few years to improve elderly care after a series of highly publicized senior care scandals in recent months. An IMF study from June 2011 has ranked Sweden as the 7th country out of the world's 20 major economies to have the best living standard for the elderly.
Austria. Photo: Westend61 | Getty Images
7. Austria
Old/young ratio: 1.3:1
65 years & over: 18.2%
0-14 years: 14%
Austria's population has the fifth-highest percentage of people aged 65 and over in the world, tied with European counterparts Sweden, Portugal, Latvia and Bulgaria, according to the World Bank.
The country's 65 and over population has gone up from 16 percent of the total population in 2006 to 18 percent in 2010, while its population of people aged 14 and under has declined from 16 percent to 15 percent in the same period. Public pension spending was 12.3 percent of Austria's GDP in 2008, over 5 percent higher than in the average of OECD countries. Austria also has only 3.5 people of working age for every person aged 65 and over, which is below the OECD average of 4.2 workers.
Men in Austria can currently retire as early as 62, while women can retire at 57. There are nearly 245,000 more women aged 65 and over in the country than men, according to the CIA Factbook. The OECD warned Austria last year that the country needs to cut government debt by curbing early retirement and eliminating early pensions. Last week, the country lost its top-notch credit rating, when it was downgraded by Standard & Poor's to AA+.
Bulgaria. Photo: Dimitar Dilkoff | AFP | Getty Images
6. Bulgaria
Old/ young ratio: 1.31:1
65 years & over: 18.2%
0-14 years: 13.9%
Bulgaria is one of three Eastern European countries to make the list of the world's 10 oldest populations. It is also one of only 16 countries in the world that saw their populations decline by more than 5,000 people between 2000 and 2005, according to the World Bank.
Bulgaria's elderly population increased from 17 percent in 2006 to 18 percent in 2010, while its young population aged up to 14 years has remained steady at 14 percent of the total population since 2003, according to the World Bank. By 2025, more than one in five Bulgarians will be older than 65, up from just 13 percent in 1990.
With its rapidly aging population, the Bulgarian government raised the official retirement age by four months starting this year for every year until it reaches 63 for women and 65 for men, up from 60 and 63 respectively. The government backtracked from plans to raise the retirement age by one year in 2012 after thousands of workers stormed through the capital in protest . For its 2.5 million workers, Bulgaria has 2.2 million retired people. It is also the poorest member of the EU, with the lowest GDP per capita, according to Eurostat.
Greece. Photo: Louisa Gouliamaki | AFP | Getty Images
5. Greece
Old/young ratio: 1.38:1
65 years & over: 19.6%
0-14 years: 14.2%
Greece has the world's weakest pension system, crippled by high levels of sovereign debt, low retirement ages and a high ratio of pensioners to workers, according a recent study by Allianz Global Investors.
The country's population of people aged 65 and over has increased from 18 percent in 2006 to 19 percent in 2010, while the group of people aged between 15 and 64 has remained at 67 percent since 2004, according to the World Bank. With nearly one-quarter of Greece's 11 million people retired, pension payments are a major burden on the economy, which is being kept afloat by the EU and IMF bailout funds.
The country made headlines last year for welfare fraud when the government revealed that thousands of dead Greeks were still receiving pensions . Data in June showed that 4,500 deceased civil servants continued to receive pension payments, costing the taxpayer $20.5 million a year. Pressured by international lenders, the country has been forced to make sweeping reforms of its pension system. Now, fewer than 10 percent of Greeks can retire before 65. In 2010, some Greeks could retire as early as 40 years of age on a reduced pension.
Italy. Photo: Giorgio Cosulich | Getty Images
4. Italy
Old/young ratio: 1.47:1
65 years & over: 20.3%
0-14 years: 13.8%
People over the age of 60 will make up a whopping 40 percent of Italy's population by 2040 compared to over 25 percent in 2007, according the GAP Index.
The country has seen its elderly population remain at 20 percent from 2005 to 2010, while the younger population of people aged 0 to 14 years hasn't grown since 1999, remaining at 14 percent. Italy's public spending on pensions is the highest in the EU, at over 16 percent of GDP compared to an average of 11 percent for the bloc.
Once considered one of the most generous pension systems in Europe, Italy's government took a hatchet to the current scheme by announcing a series of austerity measures to reform the welfare system in December . The country has one of the lowest employment rates in the region, in part because people retire long before the European average. Only 37.4 percent of Italians aged 55 to 64 still work, compared to an EU average of 47.5 percent. The new measures would see the minimum pension age for both men and women raised in stages to 66 by 2018 with incentives to keep workers employed until 70.
Germany. Photo: Thomas Grass | Getty Images
3. Germany
Old/young ratio: 1.54:1
65 years & over: 20.6%
0-14 years: 13.3%
Germany is the most populous European country and the second-biggest economy to make the list of the world's oldest populations.
The country has seen its 65 and over population increase from 19 percent in 2006 to 20 percent in 2010, while the young generation aged 0 to 14 has declined from 14 percent to 13 percent in the same period, according to the World Bank. The percentage of people aged 15 to 64 has gone down to 66 percent in 2010, compared to 69 percent two decades ago, in part explaining the labor shortage the country faces in some sectors. Eurostat predicts there will be less than two people of working age for every retired person in Germany by 2040.
While the European economic power maintains a healthy economy for now, having among the worst demographic stats in the world could lead to rising public spending and debt in years to come. Germany has nearly 2.3 million more women aged 65 and over compared to men. Despite women living longer, they also typically have smaller pension savings than men at retirement. On the whole, nearly 60 percent of Germans between the ages of 55 and 64 work, compared to just 40.7 percent of Greeks, according to EU statistics.
Japan. Photo: Ryouchin | Getty Images
2. Japan
Old/young ratio: 1.74:1
65 years & over: 22.9%
0-14 years: 13.1%
Japan is the largest economy to make the list of the world's oldest populations. It is also the only country outside of Europe in the rankings.
With the highest life expectancy in the world at 86, people aged 60 and over will account for over 43 percent of Japan's population by 2040, according to the GAP Index. Currently, one in four people are over the age of 65. On the other end, its population of people aged 15 to 64 fell four percentage points in the 10-year period from 2000 to 2010, while people aged up to 14 years fell two percentage points in the same period. Last year, the country made headlines when data showed that its population grew at its slowest pace since 1920 in the five years to 2010.
Slowing population growth indicates that Japan will find it more difficult to spread its debt burden and the rising costs of an aging society, among the working population. Japan is already the most indebted industrial nation with a public debt that is double its $5 trillion economy. Lonely elderly people have also become a growing social problem in the country. In 2010, 4.6 million elderly lived alone in Japan. The number of seniors that died at home alone increased by 61 percent between 2003 and 2010, according to official figures. In August, the government introduced measures for postmen to check up on people over 65 once a month by handing them seasonal greeting cards.
Monaco. Photo: Valery Hache | AFP | Getty Images
1. Monaco
Old/young ratio: 2.18:1
65 years & over: 26.9%
0-14 years: 2.18%
Monaco, one of the world's most densely populated countries, is home to the oldest population. It leads eight other European countries in the top 10 list. But the country is also a bit of a statistical anomaly because its status as a tax haven makes it a big draw for the wealthy and the retired rich.
With an estimated population of 30,539, the country saw its population decline in 2011 by 0.12 percent, according the to CIA Factbook. Only around 8,000 people are citizens of the city-state. The proportion of Monaco's population aged 65 and over is 26.9 percent, the highest in Western Europe, where the average is 16.5 percent, according to a 2011 study by research firm Euromonitor.
The median age of Monaco's population is 49.4 years, according to the CIA Factbook. With its older demographic, Monaco spent just 1.2 percent of its GDP in 2009 on education, according to the World Bank. In an effort to attract young professionals and entrepreneurs to boost its economy, Prince Albert launched a new consular
service to attract British citizens into the country in 2007.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/46010334?slide=2
http://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/countries-aging-populations-070947847.html
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
‘The missing piece in a smart government’
It was a memorable and bold moment in Singapore journalism. Earlier this week, a dogged reporter's patience and persistence combined with a brave editor's decision to throw caution to the wind ended in an exclusive that brought back memories of the good old days of old-fashioned reporting — and put the government in an embarrassing spot.
The Chinese evening newspaper, Lianhe Wanbao, went ahead with a report on the corruption investigations into the activities of two top public service officers — Singapore Civil Defence Force chief Peter Lim Sin Pang and Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay — without a government confirmation. It named names and gave details, like the involvement of a woman in the scandal, knowing fully well that there was a chance — a very small chance, maybe — that it could get some important details wrong.
When the government statement came — on the same day but after the paper had published the report — the news had already caught fire with the on-line world hammering out posts and reports and raising pointed issues that ranged from transparency to arrogance.
The most damaging statement, unintended though it was, came from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau. In response to media queries, it said that the narcotics man was arrested on Dec 19 and the civil defence boss on Jan 4, many days before the government put out its statement on Jan 24.
It was too long a lapse and was made worse by the rapid-fire news cycle punishing even those who take a couple of hours to come out with its side of the story.
Why this long delay?
In response to a query by The Straits Times, the government said the investigations are continuing and "it is only fair that we accord the officers assisting with investigations a fair hearing in accordance with the civil service disciplinary process and the law."
It is understandable that you want to give those involved, especially when the investigations are still on-going, a good shot at fair play. That occasion passed when the two were arrested. That was the moment when officialdom should have bitten the bullet and said: The tipping point has been reached. And we have to go public with the story.
But it remained silent until the unlikeliest of sources — the traditional media, fed by a regular diet of press releases and official speeches — put the story in the public domain.
The end result: A government caught with its back against the wall and in a reactive mode.
High pay and low corruption
When the Parliamentary debate on political salaries took place from Jan 16 to 18, the one critical point that never came up was that of a clean Cabinet and civil service. The silence on this issue was understandable because corruption in high places in government is extremely rare. But this new development, where two very senior public service officials were under investigation for "serious personal misconduct", could have been brought up and could have added a new dimension to the debate.
The salary-corruption link is important. High pay was one way to discourage officials from wanting to have their palms greased. Lee Kuan Yew highlighted
that point when he pushed vigorously for top salaries. No reasonable-minded Singaporean would have expected a corrupt-free public service, even with high pay; those who want to get round the laws will always find loopholes to exploit.
But you can make sure that corruption cases are as rare as possible. And that corrupt officials, once exposed, will face the full brunt of the law.
Even ministers have not been spared. Former National Development Minister Teh Cheang Wan, who was praised by Lee Kuan Yew a number of times, chose to end his life when he faced the heat of an unyielding group of anti-corruption officers way back in the 1980s.
Making the CPIB report directly to the PMO gives them the latitude and freedom to investigate even the high and mighty without too many encumbrances.
All these could have made the Parliamentary debate more meaningful and relevant. But an opportunity to explain the historical backdrop and context to Singapore's war on corruption was lost.
The ruling party kept silent; so did the Opposition. I am more inclined to sympathise with the members of the Opposition because there was no way for them to have information on the latest investigations.
Lessons not learnt
Since GE 2011, the government seems to be on its backfoot with communication blunders becoming a regular occurrence. From the Mas Selamat case (official statement was issued four hours after the terrorist escaped from the Internal Security Department's detention centre) to the wrong signatures on YOG appreciation certificates (Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said that it was an embarrassment but not a disaster) to the PAP's electoral defeat in Aljunied (Lee Kuan Yew warned residents that they will repent if Opposition won), it is clear that the government has yet to get a handle on how to communicate effectively in a new world.
That is really strange. This is not a stupid government, it has done a lot of good things for its people, it is respected overseas and its model of governance is highly sought after.
Yet, one of the basic attributes of a smart government -- squaring with its citizens and carrying them along -- seems to be missing.
P N Balji
[UPDATED 28 Jan, 9am, with reax from DPM Teo, PSC probe details]
No one is above the law.
PM Lee on CPIB probe: We’ll pursue and settle matter one way or another
By Jeanette Tan
That was the clear message that rang out from Davos, Switzerland, where Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is attending a meeting of the G20-countries.
Speaking to local media there, PM Lee said in no uncertain terms on Friday morning that his government will follow through on Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) investigations into the alleged misconduct by top public officials Peter Lim and Ng Boon Gay. Lim is ex-Singapore Civil Defence Force Commissioner while Ng used to lead the Central Narcotics Bureau.
“Whoever he is, whichever position he occupies, we will pursue the matter and settle it one way or another,” PM Lee was quoted as saying in The Straits Times.
“If he did wrong, he must be punished,” he continued. “If he did nothing wrong, he must be exonerated.”
It was the Singapore leader's first comments on the high-profile CPIB probe which has gripped the nation.
Separately, Deputy PM Teo Chee Hean also said he was "quite disappointed these two cases had arisen."
Speaking on the sidelines of a Chinese New Year event in Singapore late on Friday, DPM Teo was quoted in The Straits Times that "nevertheless, it does demonstrate the strength of our system, which is that any such allegations will be fully and thoroughly investigated."
It has since also emerged that the two former chiefs of the CPIB and CNB -- both high-flying public service officers and former government scholarship holders -- are also facing disciplinary action by the Public Service Commission (PSC), reported ST.
Earlier on Friday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) also said there was “no delay” in releasing news of the CPIB probe to the public.
The MHA has been under scrutiny for why news of the probe was only made public after Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao broke the story earlier this week on 24 Jan.
But in a statement issued Friday afternoon, the MHA said that it is “normal procedure” for people to be arrested if the CPIB suspected they had committed an offence. The arrested individual can also be released on bail, although he or she will be required to return for further investigation, it added.
“At that point in time (when Ng and Lim were arrested, released on bail and placed on leave), it was premature to make any announcement as CPIB investigations had just started and the outcome was not known,” the statement said. “Furthermore, a public announcement at that point could compromise CPIB investigations,” it added.
The MHA explained it was only on 20 January that the CPIB informed them that they had found sufficient basis for the ministry to consider civil service disciplinary action for misconduct.
They then relieved them of their duties and started disciplinary action five days later, appointing replacements Eric Yap and Ng Ser Song to Lim’s and Ng’s respective posts.
MHA said it had planned to make news of the probe public on 25 January, but ended up advancing its media release a day earlier after the Chinese daily broke the story on Tuesday.
“Due process has to be followed to facilitate investigations, to be fair to officers accused, and to avoid prejudicing any legal or disciplinary proceedings,” the MHA said.
Meanwhile, more information has emerged about the still-unidentified female IT executive who is believed to be involved with Ng and Lim.
The two top-ranking public officials currently being investigated by the CPIB are believed to have on separate occasions had sex with the 36-year-old woman, reported The Straits Times (ST). All three, the paper stated, are married, and Ng and Lim are believed to have both admitted during questioning to having improper relationships with a woman.
The broadsheet reported that the woman was a sales director at a Japanese multinational company that provides business-scale IT storage systems, but moved to an American software firm about six months ago. The woman’s friends and contacts also told the paper that she is “tall, slim, long-haired and vivacious”.
However, Lianhe Wanbao reported that she is in her 40s, and had been divorced from her husband, a Mr Yong, since 10 years ago. According to the tabloid, she also has two children, and apparently has the nickname “pretty woman”.
The evening daily also reported that in her previous position at the Japanese company, the woman entertained clients and accompanied them on golf and overseas trips.
Ng has known the woman in question for more than three years, and is believed to have been close to her since the start of 2009, ST said. CPIB’s investigations were said to be around two IT-related procurement contracts, valued at approximately $350,000, that Ng signed, and which underwent the regular process of awarding tenders.
The broadsheet also reported that the Japanese company the woman worked for was subcontracted by the two firms which were awarded the tenders.
In the meantime, Lim and Ng are said to be seeking legal assistance, and another six senior Singapore Civil Defence Force officers, together with employees from the IT sector are assisting with the CPIB investigation, reported the paper
The Chinese evening newspaper, Lianhe Wanbao, went ahead with a report on the corruption investigations into the activities of two top public service officers — Singapore Civil Defence Force chief Peter Lim Sin Pang and Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay — without a government confirmation. It named names and gave details, like the involvement of a woman in the scandal, knowing fully well that there was a chance — a very small chance, maybe — that it could get some important details wrong.
When the government statement came — on the same day but after the paper had published the report — the news had already caught fire with the on-line world hammering out posts and reports and raising pointed issues that ranged from transparency to arrogance.
The most damaging statement, unintended though it was, came from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau. In response to media queries, it said that the narcotics man was arrested on Dec 19 and the civil defence boss on Jan 4, many days before the government put out its statement on Jan 24.
It was too long a lapse and was made worse by the rapid-fire news cycle punishing even those who take a couple of hours to come out with its side of the story.
Why this long delay?
In response to a query by The Straits Times, the government said the investigations are continuing and "it is only fair that we accord the officers assisting with investigations a fair hearing in accordance with the civil service disciplinary process and the law."
It is understandable that you want to give those involved, especially when the investigations are still on-going, a good shot at fair play. That occasion passed when the two were arrested. That was the moment when officialdom should have bitten the bullet and said: The tipping point has been reached. And we have to go public with the story.
But it remained silent until the unlikeliest of sources — the traditional media, fed by a regular diet of press releases and official speeches — put the story in the public domain.
The end result: A government caught with its back against the wall and in a reactive mode.
High pay and low corruption
When the Parliamentary debate on political salaries took place from Jan 16 to 18, the one critical point that never came up was that of a clean Cabinet and civil service. The silence on this issue was understandable because corruption in high places in government is extremely rare. But this new development, where two very senior public service officials were under investigation for "serious personal misconduct", could have been brought up and could have added a new dimension to the debate.
The salary-corruption link is important. High pay was one way to discourage officials from wanting to have their palms greased. Lee Kuan Yew highlighted
that point when he pushed vigorously for top salaries. No reasonable-minded Singaporean would have expected a corrupt-free public service, even with high pay; those who want to get round the laws will always find loopholes to exploit.
But you can make sure that corruption cases are as rare as possible. And that corrupt officials, once exposed, will face the full brunt of the law.
Even ministers have not been spared. Former National Development Minister Teh Cheang Wan, who was praised by Lee Kuan Yew a number of times, chose to end his life when he faced the heat of an unyielding group of anti-corruption officers way back in the 1980s.
Making the CPIB report directly to the PMO gives them the latitude and freedom to investigate even the high and mighty without too many encumbrances.
All these could have made the Parliamentary debate more meaningful and relevant. But an opportunity to explain the historical backdrop and context to Singapore's war on corruption was lost.
The ruling party kept silent; so did the Opposition. I am more inclined to sympathise with the members of the Opposition because there was no way for them to have information on the latest investigations.
Lessons not learnt
Since GE 2011, the government seems to be on its backfoot with communication blunders becoming a regular occurrence. From the Mas Selamat case (official statement was issued four hours after the terrorist escaped from the Internal Security Department's detention centre) to the wrong signatures on YOG appreciation certificates (Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said that it was an embarrassment but not a disaster) to the PAP's electoral defeat in Aljunied (Lee Kuan Yew warned residents that they will repent if Opposition won), it is clear that the government has yet to get a handle on how to communicate effectively in a new world.
That is really strange. This is not a stupid government, it has done a lot of good things for its people, it is respected overseas and its model of governance is highly sought after.
Yet, one of the basic attributes of a smart government -- squaring with its citizens and carrying them along -- seems to be missing.
P N Balji
[UPDATED 28 Jan, 9am, with reax from DPM Teo, PSC probe details]
No one is above the law.
PM Lee on CPIB probe: We’ll pursue and settle matter one way or another
By Jeanette Tan
That was the clear message that rang out from Davos, Switzerland, where Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is attending a meeting of the G20-countries.
Speaking to local media there, PM Lee said in no uncertain terms on Friday morning that his government will follow through on Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) investigations into the alleged misconduct by top public officials Peter Lim and Ng Boon Gay. Lim is ex-Singapore Civil Defence Force Commissioner while Ng used to lead the Central Narcotics Bureau.
“Whoever he is, whichever position he occupies, we will pursue the matter and settle it one way or another,” PM Lee was quoted as saying in The Straits Times.
“If he did wrong, he must be punished,” he continued. “If he did nothing wrong, he must be exonerated.”
It was the Singapore leader's first comments on the high-profile CPIB probe which has gripped the nation.
Separately, Deputy PM Teo Chee Hean also said he was "quite disappointed these two cases had arisen."
Speaking on the sidelines of a Chinese New Year event in Singapore late on Friday, DPM Teo was quoted in The Straits Times that "nevertheless, it does demonstrate the strength of our system, which is that any such allegations will be fully and thoroughly investigated."
It has since also emerged that the two former chiefs of the CPIB and CNB -- both high-flying public service officers and former government scholarship holders -- are also facing disciplinary action by the Public Service Commission (PSC), reported ST.
Earlier on Friday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) also said there was “no delay” in releasing news of the CPIB probe to the public.
The MHA has been under scrutiny for why news of the probe was only made public after Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao broke the story earlier this week on 24 Jan.
But in a statement issued Friday afternoon, the MHA said that it is “normal procedure” for people to be arrested if the CPIB suspected they had committed an offence. The arrested individual can also be released on bail, although he or she will be required to return for further investigation, it added.
“At that point in time (when Ng and Lim were arrested, released on bail and placed on leave), it was premature to make any announcement as CPIB investigations had just started and the outcome was not known,” the statement said. “Furthermore, a public announcement at that point could compromise CPIB investigations,” it added.
The MHA explained it was only on 20 January that the CPIB informed them that they had found sufficient basis for the ministry to consider civil service disciplinary action for misconduct.
They then relieved them of their duties and started disciplinary action five days later, appointing replacements Eric Yap and Ng Ser Song to Lim’s and Ng’s respective posts.
MHA said it had planned to make news of the probe public on 25 January, but ended up advancing its media release a day earlier after the Chinese daily broke the story on Tuesday.
“Due process has to be followed to facilitate investigations, to be fair to officers accused, and to avoid prejudicing any legal or disciplinary proceedings,” the MHA said.
Meanwhile, more information has emerged about the still-unidentified female IT executive who is believed to be involved with Ng and Lim.
The two top-ranking public officials currently being investigated by the CPIB are believed to have on separate occasions had sex with the 36-year-old woman, reported The Straits Times (ST). All three, the paper stated, are married, and Ng and Lim are believed to have both admitted during questioning to having improper relationships with a woman.
The broadsheet reported that the woman was a sales director at a Japanese multinational company that provides business-scale IT storage systems, but moved to an American software firm about six months ago. The woman’s friends and contacts also told the paper that she is “tall, slim, long-haired and vivacious”.
However, Lianhe Wanbao reported that she is in her 40s, and had been divorced from her husband, a Mr Yong, since 10 years ago. According to the tabloid, she also has two children, and apparently has the nickname “pretty woman”.
The evening daily also reported that in her previous position at the Japanese company, the woman entertained clients and accompanied them on golf and overseas trips.
Ng has known the woman in question for more than three years, and is believed to have been close to her since the start of 2009, ST said. CPIB’s investigations were said to be around two IT-related procurement contracts, valued at approximately $350,000, that Ng signed, and which underwent the regular process of awarding tenders.
The broadsheet also reported that the Japanese company the woman worked for was subcontracted by the two firms which were awarded the tenders.
In the meantime, Lim and Ng are said to be seeking legal assistance, and another six senior Singapore Civil Defence Force officers, together with employees from the IT sector are assisting with the CPIB investigation, reported the paper
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Social mobility - Singapore
Today online
Mobility in S'pore 'higher than previously thought'
by Neo Chai Chin 04:46 AM Jan 13, 2012
SINGAPORE - Having poor or less-educated fathers does not necessarily mean their sons will fare similarly, according to a study by a Ministry of Finance economist.
Using the income records of about 39,500 father-son pairs from the Department of Statistics, the study has found inter-generational mobility in incomes and educational attainment to be "moderate to high", and higher than levels in the United States.
The correlation between measures of fathers' incomes and those of their sons is 0.22 to 0.30, depending on whether annual or monthly incomes were used. The number typically varies between 0 and 1, with a higher value implying lower mobility.
A 1992 US study found a correlation score of 0.4 and concluded inter-generational mobility there to be "relatively low".
The Singapore study tried to measure the incomes of fathers and sons as close to the middle of the life cycle as possible: Cohorts of eldest sons born from 1969 to 1978 and their mean employment income in 2008, and their fathers' mean employment incomes between 1996 and 2000.
Daughters and younger sons were left out, in line with comparable studies to avoid gender or birth-order biases in child investments, and also because daughters' incomes may be complicated by events such as childbirth and marriage.
Despite recording relatively high levels of mobility, the study by Ministry of Finance economist Yip Chun Seng noted "some evidence, though not strong, of lower mobility among the poor".
The report found mobility levels here higher than that found in two previous studies here using smaller sample sizes. Titled Intergenerational Income Mobility In Singapore and available on the MOF's website, it cited increased educational opportunities in the 1960s to 1980s as a possible reason for the relative mobility. NEO CHAI CHIN
Time to rethink social compact: Economists
by Ng Jing Yng 07:06 AM Jan 17, 2012
SINGAPORE - The Government needs to rethink its social compact as the income gap widens and social mobility slows down, some prominent economists here have argued in a paper.
The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) paper, Inequality and the Need for a New Social Compact, was written by six economists, including Mr Manu Bhaskaran, an adjunct senior research fellow at IPS, Mr Donald Low, a former senior civil servant at the Ministry of Finance, and Mr Yeoh Lam Keong, who was formerly a managing director and chief economist at the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation.
The paper, which was shared yesterday at IPS' annual Singapore Perspectives conference, noted that "the fruits of growth are distributed more unevenly than before".
The authors said that key policies - in the areas of social security, healthcare, housing, education and infrastructure - had been designed for a "youthful population and steady economic growth".
Against such a backdrop, emphasis was placed on several tenets, including individual responsibility, and public housing was seen as an instrument of redistribution - all of which had worked out well. "(But) this benign context is now changing profoundly," the authors said.
With a maturing economy, an ageing population and erratic economic growth, it has become more difficult for Singapore to achieve equitable growth, and gaps in accessing primary needs are emerging.
The current social compact would not be sufficient "in the face of the changes unleashed by globalisation, rapid technological change, and our own policies", said the study.
There is a need for a social compact that strikes a better balance between growth and equity and between individual responsibility and social insurance, which will also reflect changes in the domestic political landscape, said the authors.
Such a compact would "foster a more cohesive, less polarised society where citizens have an interest in pursuing the common good even if it means near-term sacrifices".
The previous economic crisis has resulted in the need for an "activist government" to correct market failures in key policies. This might mean questioning long-standing policy beliefs like whether stronger social safety nets would undermine competitiveness, and having a small government and low income taxes.
It would also require the Government to think creatively and pragmatically on its policy outcomes and processes. The authors recommended a national conversation between the Government and its citizens to decide how Singapore's social compact should evolve.
Pointing to the Scandinavian countries which have broader social programmes that have proven to be sustainable, the authors also noted that Singapore is in a much stronger economical position to invest in long-term measures to ensure more inclusive growth for Singaporeans
03 Mar 2011
The Straits Times (Singapore)
'Significant' degree of social mobility
Today's students continue to do better than their parents and there is data to back that up.
Half of today's Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) pupils from the bottom one-third of families by parents' education and the type of flat they live in, emerge among the top two-thirds of PSLE scorers.
So there is still "significant mobility working through the system", Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said yesterday, addressing MPs' concerns that social mobility has slowed.
But with each successive cohort, it will become more difficult for children from lower socio-economic backgrounds to make their way up the education ladder, he acknowledged. That was "precisely because we achieved a very high degree of mobility in the past".
Since the 1960s, Singapore has achieved "phenomenal mobility".
Pointing to his fellow members in the House, Mr Tharman said many of them were the children of parents who "started off with little". They had however done well through a meritocratic system and so have their children.
Citing census data, the minister said that in 1980, less than 10 per cent of young adults aged 25 to 39 had diplomas and university degrees.
By last year, that figure had shot up to 64 per cent – a "very significant shift", that came after the first wave of mobility in the 1960s and 1970s.
"We have to put much more effort into our mobility efforts as we go forward, to prevent a cycle of disadvantage for those from lower-income backgrounds," Mr Tharman said.
The Government will continue to invest heavily in education, especially at the early stages, to reduce the disadvantages faced by children from low-income backgrounds, he pledged.
Since 2006, spending on childcare and primary education has grown much faster than spending on secondary and tertiary education. Spending on childcare has gone up by 150 per cent per child while spending on primary school has increased by 60 per cent per pupil.
"The more we do early on to help children discover their strengths, the more likely they will be able to move up and do better than their parents," he said.
Unlike in many other countries, there are also no huge disparities in facilities and teaching standards between schools in poor and wealthy neighbourhoods.
Singapore's neighbourhood schools have "principals and teachers who are passionate about what they do, and try to make learning interesting for each student".
Mobility in S'pore 'higher than previously thought'
by Neo Chai Chin 04:46 AM Jan 13, 2012
SINGAPORE - Having poor or less-educated fathers does not necessarily mean their sons will fare similarly, according to a study by a Ministry of Finance economist.
Using the income records of about 39,500 father-son pairs from the Department of Statistics, the study has found inter-generational mobility in incomes and educational attainment to be "moderate to high", and higher than levels in the United States.
The correlation between measures of fathers' incomes and those of their sons is 0.22 to 0.30, depending on whether annual or monthly incomes were used. The number typically varies between 0 and 1, with a higher value implying lower mobility.
A 1992 US study found a correlation score of 0.4 and concluded inter-generational mobility there to be "relatively low".
The Singapore study tried to measure the incomes of fathers and sons as close to the middle of the life cycle as possible: Cohorts of eldest sons born from 1969 to 1978 and their mean employment income in 2008, and their fathers' mean employment incomes between 1996 and 2000.
Daughters and younger sons were left out, in line with comparable studies to avoid gender or birth-order biases in child investments, and also because daughters' incomes may be complicated by events such as childbirth and marriage.
Despite recording relatively high levels of mobility, the study by Ministry of Finance economist Yip Chun Seng noted "some evidence, though not strong, of lower mobility among the poor".
The report found mobility levels here higher than that found in two previous studies here using smaller sample sizes. Titled Intergenerational Income Mobility In Singapore and available on the MOF's website, it cited increased educational opportunities in the 1960s to 1980s as a possible reason for the relative mobility. NEO CHAI CHIN
Time to rethink social compact: Economists
by Ng Jing Yng 07:06 AM Jan 17, 2012
SINGAPORE - The Government needs to rethink its social compact as the income gap widens and social mobility slows down, some prominent economists here have argued in a paper.
The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) paper, Inequality and the Need for a New Social Compact, was written by six economists, including Mr Manu Bhaskaran, an adjunct senior research fellow at IPS, Mr Donald Low, a former senior civil servant at the Ministry of Finance, and Mr Yeoh Lam Keong, who was formerly a managing director and chief economist at the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation.
The paper, which was shared yesterday at IPS' annual Singapore Perspectives conference, noted that "the fruits of growth are distributed more unevenly than before".
The authors said that key policies - in the areas of social security, healthcare, housing, education and infrastructure - had been designed for a "youthful population and steady economic growth".
Against such a backdrop, emphasis was placed on several tenets, including individual responsibility, and public housing was seen as an instrument of redistribution - all of which had worked out well. "(But) this benign context is now changing profoundly," the authors said.
With a maturing economy, an ageing population and erratic economic growth, it has become more difficult for Singapore to achieve equitable growth, and gaps in accessing primary needs are emerging.
The current social compact would not be sufficient "in the face of the changes unleashed by globalisation, rapid technological change, and our own policies", said the study.
There is a need for a social compact that strikes a better balance between growth and equity and between individual responsibility and social insurance, which will also reflect changes in the domestic political landscape, said the authors.
Such a compact would "foster a more cohesive, less polarised society where citizens have an interest in pursuing the common good even if it means near-term sacrifices".
The previous economic crisis has resulted in the need for an "activist government" to correct market failures in key policies. This might mean questioning long-standing policy beliefs like whether stronger social safety nets would undermine competitiveness, and having a small government and low income taxes.
It would also require the Government to think creatively and pragmatically on its policy outcomes and processes. The authors recommended a national conversation between the Government and its citizens to decide how Singapore's social compact should evolve.
Pointing to the Scandinavian countries which have broader social programmes that have proven to be sustainable, the authors also noted that Singapore is in a much stronger economical position to invest in long-term measures to ensure more inclusive growth for Singaporeans
03 Mar 2011
The Straits Times (Singapore)
'Significant' degree of social mobility
Today's students continue to do better than their parents and there is data to back that up.
Half of today's Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) pupils from the bottom one-third of families by parents' education and the type of flat they live in, emerge among the top two-thirds of PSLE scorers.
So there is still "significant mobility working through the system", Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said yesterday, addressing MPs' concerns that social mobility has slowed.
But with each successive cohort, it will become more difficult for children from lower socio-economic backgrounds to make their way up the education ladder, he acknowledged. That was "precisely because we achieved a very high degree of mobility in the past".
Since the 1960s, Singapore has achieved "phenomenal mobility".
Pointing to his fellow members in the House, Mr Tharman said many of them were the children of parents who "started off with little". They had however done well through a meritocratic system and so have their children.
Citing census data, the minister said that in 1980, less than 10 per cent of young adults aged 25 to 39 had diplomas and university degrees.
By last year, that figure had shot up to 64 per cent – a "very significant shift", that came after the first wave of mobility in the 1960s and 1970s.
"We have to put much more effort into our mobility efforts as we go forward, to prevent a cycle of disadvantage for those from lower-income backgrounds," Mr Tharman said.
The Government will continue to invest heavily in education, especially at the early stages, to reduce the disadvantages faced by children from low-income backgrounds, he pledged.
Since 2006, spending on childcare and primary education has grown much faster than spending on secondary and tertiary education. Spending on childcare has gone up by 150 per cent per child while spending on primary school has increased by 60 per cent per pupil.
"The more we do early on to help children discover their strengths, the more likely they will be able to move up and do better than their parents," he said.
Unlike in many other countries, there are also no huge disparities in facilities and teaching standards between schools in poor and wealthy neighbourhoods.
Singapore's neighbourhood schools have "principals and teachers who are passionate about what they do, and try to make learning interesting for each student".
Monday, January 16, 2012
India and China to begin border talks
BBC 16 Jan 2011
India and China have begun a fresh round of talks aimed at resolving a long-running dispute over their Himalayan border.
A number of areas along the border between the two countries are in dispute and the nations fought a brief war in 1962.
Numerous rounds of border talks have been held to try to resolve the issues.
China protested when Indian PM Manmohan Singh visited Arunachal Pradesh during his 2009 election campaign.
Last November China's ambassador to India became involved in a heated exchange over a map that showed parts of India within China's border.
State Councillor Dai Bing-guo, who is leading the Chinese delegation at the two-day talks, said the two countries must put aside their differences and seize "a golden period to grow China-India relations".
"There does not exist such a thing as China's attempt to attack India or suppress India's development," he wrote in an article which appeared in The Hindu newspaper.
"The world has enough space for China and India to achieve common development, as there are so many areas for us to work together," he wrote.
The Indian delegation at the talks is being led by the National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon.
India's external affairs ministry said in a statement that the two sides will also hold talks on a "a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest".
Both sides have previously claimed the other is occupying parts of its land.
While India has accused China of occupying territory in Kashmir, Beijing has laid claim to territory in the north-east Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
India and China, the new Great GameBy Andrew North
BBC South Asia correspondentBBC - 13 Dec 2011
"Beware India!" shouts the headline in one Indian paper.
"China to open first military base in Indian Ocean."
Nothing to worry about, says the defence ministry in Beijing. The base - in the Seychelles - is just for supplying passing Chinese navy ships.
But seen from Delhi, it is another move in what a former Indian defence minister has called China's policy of "strategic encirclement".
Even as Indian diplomats insist they want "cordial ties", tensions are rising everywhere between the two giant Asian neighbours, in what looks increasingly like a new "great game" - with the US and other powers upping their stakes.
Willliam Burns, America's number two diplomat, is in Delhi this week to try to rekindle relations after a period of stagnation, and a stalled deal on nuclear co-operation.
Next week, Washington hosts diplomats from India and Japan for a first ever "trilateral dialogue" of the "three leading Pacific democracies".
An increasingly assertive China is clearly their main focus.
The Great Game was a term coined for the shadowy battle for influence and control in central Asia between Russia and the British empire.
Yet even as the latest round plays out in Afghanistan, this new and less-noticed Asian great game could be of far greater global importance - and pose more dangers.
'Perception deficit'
It is already provoking regular media hostilities, the Chinese papers lashing out at India as "jealous" of China's success, after the former Indian defence minister's broadside.
While playing down the chances of real conflict, a senior Indian diplomat admits: "There is a trust and a perception deficit" between the two.
Nearly 50 years after they fought a brief border war, Delhi and Beijing still cannot agree on much of their nearly 4,000km (2,500 miles) of frontier, with an arms race happening on both sides.
A regular border meeting was recently cancelled because of disagreements over another frequent irritant in the relationship - the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who lives under Indian protection.
This is bound to be an "adversarial" relationship, says Shyam Saran, India's foreign secretary until last year.
But what he calls China's "hierarchical' outlook" makes it more difficult.
"It wants to be on top, maybe not to dominate territory, but to have veto power over any of its neighbours' policies it doesn't like."
'Cheque-book diplomacy'
Just like the original great game, this is a battle on many fronts, being fought with aid, investment, politics and culture - from Pakistan (a long-time Chinese ally) to Nepal, and across South East Asia.
But paradoxically, part of the reason for relations "getting more complicated" is "because they are getting closer", says Jonathan Holslag, a China expert at the Brussels Institute of Contemporary Studies.
Trade between India and China is expanding, but it is imbalanced in China's favour.
And with its greater economic weight, it is going "all out in its cheque-book diplomacy", says Mr Holslag, with India struggling to compete.
But while it could not stop the Seychelles hosting China's new base, India drew the line earlier this year when Nepal - landlocked between the two giants - contemplated accepting $3bn (£2bn) worth of Chinese investment.
But China already has firm foundations there, recently upgrading the Friendship Highway across the Himalayas between Kathmandu and Lhasa in Tibet.
Work is now under way on a railway link, with nothing comparable from the Indian side.
“
The US still appears unable to decide whether to treat India as a partner… as far as technology matters are concerned.”
Senior Indian diplomat
China is years ahead of India in building up transport links along their disputed frontier, giving it a head start in moving troops if there is another war.
US factor
Yet from Beijing's point of view, India is helping in what it perceives as an emerging US policy of containment.
Next week's meeting will only heighten these suspicions, coming soon after US President Barack Obama's announced plans to send US marines to Australia's northern coast - facing China.
Beijing chafes at Indian oil companies encroaching on what it regards as its backyard in the South China sea.
Indian officials though play down an incident in the summer when a Chinese ship is reported to have warned an Indian ship to leave the area.
There is no question of India being used as "a cat's paw" by the US, according to the senior Indian diplomat.
And despite better ties, India remains cautious about how close it gets to Washington, says Mr Saran, because of a perception that it is still not willing to share enough.
"The US still appears unable to decide whether to treat India as a partner… as far as technology matters are concerned," he says.
Watering down nationalism
That both India and China are now nuclear-armed helps concentrate minds against war.
Along their border, the most likely flashpoint, things have been quiet for more than 30 years - despite or perhaps because of the military build-up
"Not a bullet has been fired, not a soldier lost," says Indian foreign ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash.
Yet some see dangers in the continuing war of words in the Indian and Chinese media.
Jonathan Holslag says that although it is only "25% real, it plays up nationalist sentiment and reduces the scope for making compromises".
If economic growth slows much more in either India or China - and there are already signs - that could spell trouble, encouraging nationalism that could turn "nasty".
India and China have begun a fresh round of talks aimed at resolving a long-running dispute over their Himalayan border.
A number of areas along the border between the two countries are in dispute and the nations fought a brief war in 1962.
Numerous rounds of border talks have been held to try to resolve the issues.
China protested when Indian PM Manmohan Singh visited Arunachal Pradesh during his 2009 election campaign.
Last November China's ambassador to India became involved in a heated exchange over a map that showed parts of India within China's border.
State Councillor Dai Bing-guo, who is leading the Chinese delegation at the two-day talks, said the two countries must put aside their differences and seize "a golden period to grow China-India relations".
"There does not exist such a thing as China's attempt to attack India or suppress India's development," he wrote in an article which appeared in The Hindu newspaper.
"The world has enough space for China and India to achieve common development, as there are so many areas for us to work together," he wrote.
The Indian delegation at the talks is being led by the National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon.
India's external affairs ministry said in a statement that the two sides will also hold talks on a "a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest".
Both sides have previously claimed the other is occupying parts of its land.
While India has accused China of occupying territory in Kashmir, Beijing has laid claim to territory in the north-east Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
India and China, the new Great GameBy Andrew North
BBC South Asia correspondentBBC - 13 Dec 2011
"Beware India!" shouts the headline in one Indian paper.
"China to open first military base in Indian Ocean."
Nothing to worry about, says the defence ministry in Beijing. The base - in the Seychelles - is just for supplying passing Chinese navy ships.
But seen from Delhi, it is another move in what a former Indian defence minister has called China's policy of "strategic encirclement".
Even as Indian diplomats insist they want "cordial ties", tensions are rising everywhere between the two giant Asian neighbours, in what looks increasingly like a new "great game" - with the US and other powers upping their stakes.
Willliam Burns, America's number two diplomat, is in Delhi this week to try to rekindle relations after a period of stagnation, and a stalled deal on nuclear co-operation.
Next week, Washington hosts diplomats from India and Japan for a first ever "trilateral dialogue" of the "three leading Pacific democracies".
An increasingly assertive China is clearly their main focus.
The Great Game was a term coined for the shadowy battle for influence and control in central Asia between Russia and the British empire.
Yet even as the latest round plays out in Afghanistan, this new and less-noticed Asian great game could be of far greater global importance - and pose more dangers.
'Perception deficit'
It is already provoking regular media hostilities, the Chinese papers lashing out at India as "jealous" of China's success, after the former Indian defence minister's broadside.
While playing down the chances of real conflict, a senior Indian diplomat admits: "There is a trust and a perception deficit" between the two.
Nearly 50 years after they fought a brief border war, Delhi and Beijing still cannot agree on much of their nearly 4,000km (2,500 miles) of frontier, with an arms race happening on both sides.
A regular border meeting was recently cancelled because of disagreements over another frequent irritant in the relationship - the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who lives under Indian protection.
This is bound to be an "adversarial" relationship, says Shyam Saran, India's foreign secretary until last year.
But what he calls China's "hierarchical' outlook" makes it more difficult.
"It wants to be on top, maybe not to dominate territory, but to have veto power over any of its neighbours' policies it doesn't like."
'Cheque-book diplomacy'
Just like the original great game, this is a battle on many fronts, being fought with aid, investment, politics and culture - from Pakistan (a long-time Chinese ally) to Nepal, and across South East Asia.
But paradoxically, part of the reason for relations "getting more complicated" is "because they are getting closer", says Jonathan Holslag, a China expert at the Brussels Institute of Contemporary Studies.
Trade between India and China is expanding, but it is imbalanced in China's favour.
And with its greater economic weight, it is going "all out in its cheque-book diplomacy", says Mr Holslag, with India struggling to compete.
But while it could not stop the Seychelles hosting China's new base, India drew the line earlier this year when Nepal - landlocked between the two giants - contemplated accepting $3bn (£2bn) worth of Chinese investment.
But China already has firm foundations there, recently upgrading the Friendship Highway across the Himalayas between Kathmandu and Lhasa in Tibet.
Work is now under way on a railway link, with nothing comparable from the Indian side.
“
The US still appears unable to decide whether to treat India as a partner… as far as technology matters are concerned.”
Senior Indian diplomat
China is years ahead of India in building up transport links along their disputed frontier, giving it a head start in moving troops if there is another war.
US factor
Yet from Beijing's point of view, India is helping in what it perceives as an emerging US policy of containment.
Next week's meeting will only heighten these suspicions, coming soon after US President Barack Obama's announced plans to send US marines to Australia's northern coast - facing China.
Beijing chafes at Indian oil companies encroaching on what it regards as its backyard in the South China sea.
Indian officials though play down an incident in the summer when a Chinese ship is reported to have warned an Indian ship to leave the area.
There is no question of India being used as "a cat's paw" by the US, according to the senior Indian diplomat.
And despite better ties, India remains cautious about how close it gets to Washington, says Mr Saran, because of a perception that it is still not willing to share enough.
"The US still appears unable to decide whether to treat India as a partner… as far as technology matters are concerned," he says.
Watering down nationalism
That both India and China are now nuclear-armed helps concentrate minds against war.
Along their border, the most likely flashpoint, things have been quiet for more than 30 years - despite or perhaps because of the military build-up
"Not a bullet has been fired, not a soldier lost," says Indian foreign ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash.
Yet some see dangers in the continuing war of words in the Indian and Chinese media.
Jonathan Holslag says that although it is only "25% real, it plays up nationalist sentiment and reduces the scope for making compromises".
If economic growth slows much more in either India or China - and there are already signs - that could spell trouble, encouraging nationalism that could turn "nasty".
Mail Online
Brazil overtakes UK as sixth biggest economy as Britain falls behind a South American nation for the first time
Figures show a dramatic illustration of changing global fortunes
China, Japan, Germany, France and the U.S. occupy the top five places
Brazil fast-becoming one of the powerhouses of the global economy
By Nick Fagge
Last updated at 1:01 AM on 26th December 2011
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078596/Brazil-overtakes-UK-sixth-biggest-economy-Britain-falls-South-American-nation-time.html#ixzz1jfsO66Mz
Britain has been deposed by Brazil as the sixth largest economy in the world, latest figures show.
In a dramatic illustration of changing global economic fortunes, the UK has fallen behind a South American nation for the first time.
The figures, from the Centre for Economic and Business Research’s annual world economic league table, show Britain is now the seventh richest country in the world.
The U.S., China, Japan, Germany and France occupy the top five places.
More often associated with football and dirt-poor shanty towns known as favelas, Brazil is fast becoming one of the powerhouses of the global economy.
The largest country in Latin America, its economy has surged because of vast reserves of natural resources and a rapidly growing, and cash-rich, middle class.
At the same time the UK languishes in the grip of a national debt crisis and lack of bank credit. Britons continue to be better off and enjoy a far higher standard of living than the vast majority of people in Brazil but the latter’s 203million population provides huge economic clout.
‘The punching power of Brazil as a whole has overtaken Britain because of the huge economic potential of people who live there,’ Peter Slowe, a former government economic policy advisor, told the Daily Mail.
‘Brazil has a variety of natural resources to rely on including gold and silver as well as oil off-shore and minerals in the Amazon.
‘By contrast the UK economy is affected by the problems of the eurozone.’
Brazil’s stable political situation also attracts investors.
Its hard-won democracy also provides foreign investors with the peace of mind that the status quo is unlikely to be overturned by a popular revolution. Brazil floundered under a number of military dictatorships throughout the 20th century until civilian control was established in 1985.
The rapid economic development in the huge South American state is likely to come at the expense of the Amazon – and its indigenous people, animals and extraordinary forests.
Dr Slowe said: ‘Brazil, unlike China, is a democracy which is much more attractive to investors.
‘This means the country is unlikely to undergo prolonged civil unrest which is likely to occur at some time in China.
‘The country has huge potential but the vast majority of their resources are in Amazon basin.
‘And the cost of exploiting this mineral wealth is the loss of the habitat and the traditions of indigenous tribes who have lived the same way since the Stone Age.’
The relegation to sixth spot is the latest blow to the British economy.
In the middle of a prolonged economic downturn and dragged into the euro crisis because of its trade relations with the Continent, the UK has also been involved in an unseemly spat with France.
London has come under sustained attack from French ministers over which country has the best economic prospects.
Although the latest figures from the CEBR would suggest the French are ahead, they also predict that Britain will leapfrog France by 2020. The CEBR says that by then the UK economy will be the eighth largest in the world, one ahead of France and two behind Brazil.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078596/Brazil-overtakes-UK-sixth-biggest-economy-Britain-falls-South-American-nation-time.html#ixzz1jfskGrtH
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078596/Brazil-overtakes-UK-sixth-biggest-economy-Britain-falls-South-American-nation-time.html#ixzz1jfsTkI23
Figures show a dramatic illustration of changing global fortunes
China, Japan, Germany, France and the U.S. occupy the top five places
Brazil fast-becoming one of the powerhouses of the global economy
By Nick Fagge
Last updated at 1:01 AM on 26th December 2011
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078596/Brazil-overtakes-UK-sixth-biggest-economy-Britain-falls-South-American-nation-time.html#ixzz1jfsO66Mz
Britain has been deposed by Brazil as the sixth largest economy in the world, latest figures show.
In a dramatic illustration of changing global economic fortunes, the UK has fallen behind a South American nation for the first time.
The figures, from the Centre for Economic and Business Research’s annual world economic league table, show Britain is now the seventh richest country in the world.
The U.S., China, Japan, Germany and France occupy the top five places.
More often associated with football and dirt-poor shanty towns known as favelas, Brazil is fast becoming one of the powerhouses of the global economy.
The largest country in Latin America, its economy has surged because of vast reserves of natural resources and a rapidly growing, and cash-rich, middle class.
At the same time the UK languishes in the grip of a national debt crisis and lack of bank credit. Britons continue to be better off and enjoy a far higher standard of living than the vast majority of people in Brazil but the latter’s 203million population provides huge economic clout.
‘The punching power of Brazil as a whole has overtaken Britain because of the huge economic potential of people who live there,’ Peter Slowe, a former government economic policy advisor, told the Daily Mail.
‘Brazil has a variety of natural resources to rely on including gold and silver as well as oil off-shore and minerals in the Amazon.
‘By contrast the UK economy is affected by the problems of the eurozone.’
Brazil’s stable political situation also attracts investors.
Its hard-won democracy also provides foreign investors with the peace of mind that the status quo is unlikely to be overturned by a popular revolution. Brazil floundered under a number of military dictatorships throughout the 20th century until civilian control was established in 1985.
The rapid economic development in the huge South American state is likely to come at the expense of the Amazon – and its indigenous people, animals and extraordinary forests.
Dr Slowe said: ‘Brazil, unlike China, is a democracy which is much more attractive to investors.
‘This means the country is unlikely to undergo prolonged civil unrest which is likely to occur at some time in China.
‘The country has huge potential but the vast majority of their resources are in Amazon basin.
‘And the cost of exploiting this mineral wealth is the loss of the habitat and the traditions of indigenous tribes who have lived the same way since the Stone Age.’
The relegation to sixth spot is the latest blow to the British economy.
In the middle of a prolonged economic downturn and dragged into the euro crisis because of its trade relations with the Continent, the UK has also been involved in an unseemly spat with France.
London has come under sustained attack from French ministers over which country has the best economic prospects.
Although the latest figures from the CEBR would suggest the French are ahead, they also predict that Britain will leapfrog France by 2020. The CEBR says that by then the UK economy will be the eighth largest in the world, one ahead of France and two behind Brazil.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078596/Brazil-overtakes-UK-sixth-biggest-economy-Britain-falls-South-American-nation-time.html#ixzz1jfskGrtH
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078596/Brazil-overtakes-UK-sixth-biggest-economy-Britain-falls-South-American-nation-time.html#ixzz1jfsTkI23
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Why Irish soldiers who fought Hitler hide their medalsBy John Waite - BBC News 28 Dec 2011
Five thousand Irish soldiers who swapped uniforms to fight for the British against Hitler went on to suffer years of persecution.
One of them, 92-year-old Phil Farrington, took part in the D-Day landings and helped liberate the German death camp at Bergen-Belsen - but he wears his medals in secret.
Even to this day, he has nightmares that he will be arrested by the authorities and imprisoned for his wartime service.
"They would come and get me, yes they would," he said in a frail voice at his home in the docks area of Dublin.
And his 25-year-old grandson, Patrick, confirmed: "I see the fear in him even today, even after 65 years."
Mr Farrington's fears are not groundless.
He was one of about 5,000 Irish soldiers who deserted their own neutral army to join the war against fascism and who were brutally punished on their return home as a result.
They were formally dismissed from the Irish army, stripped of all pay and pension rights, and prevented from finding work by being banned for seven years from any employment paid for by state or government funds.
A special "list" was drawn up containing their names and addresses, and circulated to every government department, town hall and railway station - anywhere the men might look for a job.
It was referred to in the Irish parliament - the Dail - at the time as a "starvation order", and for many of their families the phrase became painfully close to the truth.
Treated as outcasts
Paddy Reid - whose father and uncle both fought the Japanese at the battle of Kohima Ridge - recalls a post-war childhood in Dublin spent "moving from one slum to another".
Maybe one slice of bread a day and that would be it - no proper clothing, no proper heating.
"My father was blacklisted and away all the time, picking turnips or whatever work he could get. It's still painful to remember. We were treated as outcasts."
John Stout, now 80, served with the Irish Guards armoured division which raced to Arnhem to capture a key bridge.
He also fought in the Battle of the Bulge, ending the war as a commando.
On his return home to Cork, however, he was treated as a pariah. "What they did to us was wrong. I know that in my heart. They cold-shouldered you. They didn't speak to you.
"They didn't understand why we did what we did. A lot of Irish people wanted Germany to win the war - they were dead up against the British."
It was only 20 years since Ireland had won its independence after many centuries of rule from London, and the Irish list of grievances against Britain was long - as Gerald Morgan, long-time professor of history at Trinity College, Dublin, explains.
"The uprisings, the civil war, all sorts of reneged promises - I'd estimate that 60% of the population expected or indeed hoped the Germans would win.
"To prevent civil unrest, Eamon de Valera had to do something. Hence the starvation order and the list."
Ireland adopted a policy of strict neutrality which may have been necessary politically or even popular, but a significant minority strongly backed Britain, including tens of thousands of Irish civilians who signed up to fight alongside the 5,000 Irish servicemen who switched uniforms.
Confidential list
Until I showed him the list - the size of a slim phone directory and marked "confidential" - John Stout had not realised his name was included.
But after the war it quickly became apparent that he could not get work and was not welcome in Ireland - so he returned to Britain.
"I feel very betrayed about how we were treated, it was wrong and even today they should say sorry for the problems we had to endure. We never even got to put our case or argue why it was unjust," said Mr Stout.
And the list itself is far from accurate, according to Robert Widders, who has written a book about the deserters' treatment called Spitting on a Soldier's Grave.
"It contains the names of men who were to be punished but who'd already been killed in action, but not the names of men who deserted the Irish army to spend their war years as burglars or thieves," he said.
In recent months, a number of Irish parliamentarians have begun pressing their government to issue a pardon to the few deserters who remain alive.
"What happened to them was vindictive and not only a stain on their honour but on the honour of Ireland," TD Gerald Nash said.
But for those nonagenarians who helped win the war but lost so much by doing so, time is of the essence, and it is running out fast.
One of them, 92-year-old Phil Farrington, took part in the D-Day landings and helped liberate the German death camp at Bergen-Belsen - but he wears his medals in secret.
Even to this day, he has nightmares that he will be arrested by the authorities and imprisoned for his wartime service.
"They would come and get me, yes they would," he said in a frail voice at his home in the docks area of Dublin.
And his 25-year-old grandson, Patrick, confirmed: "I see the fear in him even today, even after 65 years."
Mr Farrington's fears are not groundless.
He was one of about 5,000 Irish soldiers who deserted their own neutral army to join the war against fascism and who were brutally punished on their return home as a result.
They were formally dismissed from the Irish army, stripped of all pay and pension rights, and prevented from finding work by being banned for seven years from any employment paid for by state or government funds.
A special "list" was drawn up containing their names and addresses, and circulated to every government department, town hall and railway station - anywhere the men might look for a job.
It was referred to in the Irish parliament - the Dail - at the time as a "starvation order", and for many of their families the phrase became painfully close to the truth.
Treated as outcasts
Paddy Reid - whose father and uncle both fought the Japanese at the battle of Kohima Ridge - recalls a post-war childhood in Dublin spent "moving from one slum to another".
Maybe one slice of bread a day and that would be it - no proper clothing, no proper heating.
"My father was blacklisted and away all the time, picking turnips or whatever work he could get. It's still painful to remember. We were treated as outcasts."
John Stout, now 80, served with the Irish Guards armoured division which raced to Arnhem to capture a key bridge.
He also fought in the Battle of the Bulge, ending the war as a commando.
On his return home to Cork, however, he was treated as a pariah. "What they did to us was wrong. I know that in my heart. They cold-shouldered you. They didn't speak to you.
"They didn't understand why we did what we did. A lot of Irish people wanted Germany to win the war - they were dead up against the British."
It was only 20 years since Ireland had won its independence after many centuries of rule from London, and the Irish list of grievances against Britain was long - as Gerald Morgan, long-time professor of history at Trinity College, Dublin, explains.
"The uprisings, the civil war, all sorts of reneged promises - I'd estimate that 60% of the population expected or indeed hoped the Germans would win.
"To prevent civil unrest, Eamon de Valera had to do something. Hence the starvation order and the list."
Ireland adopted a policy of strict neutrality which may have been necessary politically or even popular, but a significant minority strongly backed Britain, including tens of thousands of Irish civilians who signed up to fight alongside the 5,000 Irish servicemen who switched uniforms.
Confidential list
Until I showed him the list - the size of a slim phone directory and marked "confidential" - John Stout had not realised his name was included.
But after the war it quickly became apparent that he could not get work and was not welcome in Ireland - so he returned to Britain.
"I feel very betrayed about how we were treated, it was wrong and even today they should say sorry for the problems we had to endure. We never even got to put our case or argue why it was unjust," said Mr Stout.
And the list itself is far from accurate, according to Robert Widders, who has written a book about the deserters' treatment called Spitting on a Soldier's Grave.
"It contains the names of men who were to be punished but who'd already been killed in action, but not the names of men who deserted the Irish army to spend their war years as burglars or thieves," he said.
In recent months, a number of Irish parliamentarians have begun pressing their government to issue a pardon to the few deserters who remain alive.
"What happened to them was vindictive and not only a stain on their honour but on the honour of Ireland," TD Gerald Nash said.
But for those nonagenarians who helped win the war but lost so much by doing so, time is of the essence, and it is running out fast.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Nepal Biogas
Nepal pipes biogas expertise abroadBy Navin Singh Khadka
Environment reporter, BBC News, Nepal
Having emerged as one of the pioneers in producing biogas from cow dung, the Himalayan nation of Nepal is now successfully transferring its technical expertise to other countries.
Several Nepalese experts have been travelling to countries in South East Asia and Africa to introduce the "clean", homegrown technology that helps reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels and saves forests.
Biogas from cow dung is mainly used for cooking in rural areas and also for lighting houses.
Renowned for displacing choking smoky ovens with clean cooking stoves, the Nepalese model of biogas has won the prestigious Ashden award.
The Biogas Partnership Project Nepal, a collaboration between the government, donors and non-governmental organisations, has already installed plants for nearly 300,000 households across the country.
The project says it helps reduce 7.4 tonnes of greenhouse gases per household per year and protects 250,000 trees during the same period of time.
And the expertise gained over the years has benefited many communities in different developing and least developed countries including Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, among others in Asia and around 10 countries in Africa.
"Nepal was the pioneer in the development of this technology and now it has also been successful in sharing its technical expertise to many countries," says Rem Neefjes, the country director of SNV, the Netherlands government's development agency, a major donor in biogas projects in many countries.
"The success in Vietnam in particular has been outstanding; more than 100,000 biogas plants have been installed there."
Installations are growing in Indonesia too and the technology there has even been named "the Nepal model".
"They call it so because they know that it has been tested and proven in Nepal all these years," says Sundar Bajgain, a Nepali biogas expert now based in Jakarta to help Indonesians with the technical expertise.
In several African countries, Nepalese experts are not only helping the communities install biogas plants but are also conducting training in schools.
Theoneste Kaneruka was a simple mason in the northern province of Rwanda until three years ago.
"Then I heard about the biogas business, and after sessions of trainings and certification with the National biogas program, the SNV Rwanda team and the expert from Nepal, Prakash Ghimire, I started my own company.
"We now build 20 to 25 biogas plants in a month."
But transferring their expertise to foreign countries has not always been easy for Nepalese experts.
"It becomes more challenging when you are working in a country that is quite familiar with Nepal and its socio-political situation," says Mr Bajgain.
"In Bangladesh, for instance, it was a bit difficult in the beginning because many in that country know about the unstable political situation in Nepal and the setbacks in development works.
"So naturally it was hard for them to readily trust our capability, but in due course of time we proved that we were worth it."
Wim J van Nes, renewable energy network leader of SNV, is well aware of the differing local circumstances.
"It is important to stress that every country has its own context and the success of the programme is dependent on different technical, financial, organisational, institutional, political and socio-cultural factors," he said.
"Despite this, the BSP [of Nepal] was regarded as an inspirational example and many stakeholders from other countries made a visit to Nepal not only to witness biogas households but also to learn from key stakeholders how the sector had been developed."
One of BSP Nepal's biogas experts, Indira Shakya, says: "On one occasion, we had just arrived in Ethiopia and locals there were already complaining that the biogas plant they had installed was not working.
"They were asking how come the technology worked in a 'cold' country like Nepal while it was not working in their country that was so warm.
"So we went to the site to investigate and found that they had been using dry cow dung that cannot produce the gas. When we successfully demonstrated the technology with fresh dung, their faces lit up."
The technology is quite simple and natural: bacteria that comes with the dung from a cow's stomach break down the waste in an underground air-tight digester.
In the absence of oxygen, the mixing of cow dung with water leads to a reaction that produces a gas comprising up to 70% methane with the remainder being carbon dioxide.
The digested slurry flows to an outlet tank and ends up in the compost pit, while the gas is tapped from the top of the dome with a pipe that ends in the burner of the kitchen stove.
Until the last decade, the technology was largely confined to the rural areas of Nepal. Now it has travelled with Nepalese experts far and wide.
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