Data openness sounds like a defensible cause. In the information age, citizens expect transparency, and degree of openness is an increasingly common benchmarking metric. However, not all governments are so forthcoming, and Singapore is one…
Economic inequality has been a popular topic for analysis, commentary and political debate. Recent data have elicited yet more concern. The top 1 per cent of the world’s wealthy individuals now own more than the…
China and India are experiencing rapid urbanisation, with rural-to-urban migration occurring at historically unprecedented rates. City planning and economic policy have struggled to keep pace with this demographic shift, and global economic competition may force…
Booming urbanization, combined with technology’s seemingly boundless potential, is triggering predictions of smart cities as an urban techno-utopia. Marketing this vision skips straight to dessert; the mechanics of service coordination bore the public, but images…
Can Chinese residential property investors be as enthusiastic about Southeast Asia as they have about the West? And if so, what are the implications for disadvantaged urban dwellers? Progressive governments that anticipate these trends and…
Despite handwringing by political progressives about the PAP’s landslide victory in the 2015 general election, social change is inevitable – and it may even originate within Singapore’s proudest policy arena: the economy. If the knowledge…
People now have higher expectations for living standards, particularly for their children. Modi’s visit to Silicon Valley is evidence that the government is committed to building the country’s global image. However, India first must sell its…
Many in Asia have escaped poverty, but capital continues to flow disproportionately to the tiny elite. The top 1 per cent now own 50.4 per cent of global wealth; that is, 1 per cent of…
With a rising middle class and booming demand for automobiles, Asian cities can expect no relief from congestion, and this may be a deterrent for businesses. Rural areas are increasingly prepared to absorb this potential…
More than two decades after the emigration of Vietnam’s “boat people” reached its apex, a new exodus is underway. Increasing numbers of university-aged Vietnamese students are pursuing degrees abroad. Two factors can reverse this loss…
