Monday, 22 September 2014

Counting Wealth But Not Health

According to an article in Singapore's Straits Times there are thirty two billionaires in Singapore and increase of five over the previous year.

They share a combined wealth of US$65 billion.  What is revealing is the patriarchal nature of Singapore business, which remains very much a tradition within the country and its wealthiest families.

As this graphic shows, none of 32 billionaires are women and most of the money is, and has been, made in the financial sector.  The majority of these super wealthy are not born and bred Singaporeans but have moved there (or their families have) to take advantage of the country's growth and prosperity.


But whether they are a healthy lot is quite another matter with only a quarter showing any interest in health and wellness.  The drive to succeed I would suggest often overcomes any concerns of physical well-being.  That said,  as they have the money to buy the best medical services available, many of these folk enjoy a reasonable life span; the average age of these billionaires being sixty two.

The global trend shows a 7% growth in the number of billionaires and there are now 2,325 of them according to recent research from Wealth-X and the Swiss bank UBS.

12% of the world's billionaires are women and more than half are self-made. i.e. they did not inherit their fortunes.  The old saying about 'money makes money' holds true as most enjoyed an average growth in their wealth of 4.4%.

Even though Singapore is enjoying good growth in the super-rich club the best place to make your fortune remains the USA with China coming a close second.

New Art Work - Composition 2109

Composition 2109
Roger Smith, 2014
Copies of this print are available here.

Tuesday, 2 September 2014

Ion Mall Sketch

Ion Mall  -  Orchard Road, Singapore
Roger Smith 2014
Click here to see original

Sunday, 31 August 2014

Going Bug-Eyed! Two New Art Works


Bugs
Original Digital Art - Roger Smith 2014
See it here.


Bugs Drawing
Original Study - Roger Smith 2014
See it here.

The Joys Of Owning A Cat

Wednesday, 20 August 2014

Singaporean Chinese in New Zealand - some statistics

The latest statistics from the recent New Zealand 2013 census have been released and while the country population now number over 1.4 million people, only 741 of them are Singaporean Chinese living here.

That's less than 1% of the total population but not surprisingly nearly 60% of them live in the Auckland area.

21% of Singaporean Chinese living in New Zealand were actually born overseas and the median age of this group is 31.7 years.

Other interesting facts:
  • Only 8.4% of Singaporean Chinese are regular smokers
  • 27% of them can speak two languages
  • 43% own their own residence in NZ, compared to the half the total NZ population who own theirs
  • Singaporean Chinese are more highly educated than the rest of their NZ counterparts with 43.3% holding a Bachelor's degree or higher (overall NZ is only 20%)
  • They are more religious than most New Zealanders with 73.3 % of Singaporean Chinese being  affiliated with at least one religion.  Only 55% of the total NZ population are.

Thursday, 14 August 2014

The American View - Singapore As The Social Laboratory

The Social Laboratory
Singapore is testing whether mass surveillance and big data can not only protect national security, but actually engineer a more harmonious society.



The US commentator has a grudging respect for the technology but worries about the apparent lack of government accountability/ public safeguards.  

I am not sure I agree with his view, but the trade-off on so-called US freedoms is Singapore's political and security stability which has allowed it to global weather financial storms and develop at an amazing rate of the past 49 years.