Keeping things in perspective, be it about Singapore or stuff happening.

I'm back from my Oz trip, and was catching up on the newspapers before going off to work.

ST carried a commentary article by Canadian journalist Neil Reynolds, headlined "In Singapore, it's save and be saved" (7 Oct, page A34). Some of his statements are inaccurate or debatable but the figures he cites are spot-on and sobering. Among them:

"...in 1959, Singapore was an impoverished Third World island nation with all the filth and fever that stagnant sewage ensures in a densely populated city (population: one million) of slums. Per-capita GDP then was US$400.

"In the 50 years since, Singapore’s nominal per-capita GDP growth has signalled its astonishing advance: in 1990, US$12,000; in 2000, US$22,000; in 2010, US$50,000 – or, expressed in terms of purchasing power, US$62,000. This ranks Singapore as the fifth highest in the world, well ahead of the United States (in 11th place with per-capita GDP of US$47,200) and Canada (in 22nd place with per-capita GDP of US$39,400).

"Boston Consulting Group says Singapore has more millionaires, relative to population, than any other country in the world: 15.2 per cent of all households have more than US$1-million of personal assets “under active management,” which means that house values aren’t counted."

Here is the original Globe and Mail article (ST's version seemed to have some missing bits):

http://m.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/commentary/neil-reynolds/in-singapore-its-save-and-be-saved/article2182024/?service=mobile

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There are also some quotable quotes in today's ST:

"Cinderella's not going to the ball, so Republican voters are going to have to settle for one of her ugly sisters." -- political pundit Mark McKinnon on US rightwing darling Sarah Palin's decision to not make a bid for the 2012 US presidential election.

"It was very painful, and I felt like I was being chainsawed in the stomach, with hot sauce on the chainsaw." -- contestant Curie Kim on how she felt while taking part in a curry eating contest in Edinburgh, Scotland. She came in second.

"Every family has a black sheep. You wouldn't kill the entire family because of that." -- Hort Park and Southern Ridges assistant director Wendy Seah on having to keep a sense of perspective, following a recent attack by a rogue alpha male macaque monkey on three people at the park.