VIEWS
2 Pills To Solve The Orchard Road Ills
IT IS no longer a surprise to see large clusters of vacant shops in malls all over Singapore. The retail sales index has shown declines in 2…
A Bitcoin Bubble Forming?
THE RISE the cryptocurrency has been driven by heavy demand and limited supply. In particular, there has apparently been burgeoning demand f…
Usain Bolt’s Historic Run
IF EVER there was a story that was too good to be true, it would be the tale of the Jamaican lightning Bolt. Usain Bolt just made it seem so…
Demystifying Bitcoin And Its Intentions
IT CAN be hard to wrap your head around the spectacular rise in value of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple. The emergence o…
Leaders Don’t Drift Off Between Sunset And Sunrise
EVERY individual, every business, every organisation, every country finds itself drifting from time to time. Working hard is tiring. When th…
The Safety Video Selling Singapore
AN AIRLINE safety video without a plane in sight is not an entirely novel idea. Virgin America had a version with a dance routine in 2013, g…
Armenia Mining For Future Riches
A TROUBLED past, a difficult present, but a brighter future lies ahead for Armenia. This is the belief of its Vice Prime Minister, Vardan Ay…
Giving Wonder Boy His Break
MANY memories live on, but just in our minds. Seldom do we get the opportunity to see them realised in a more permanent form. Above: Dick Le…
Riding The Cryptocurrency Current
MONEY typically has three main functions: A medium of exchange; A store of value; and Unit of account. How do these work together? Say you g…
In Search Of Greater Retirement Returns
THE IMPENDING 3Q launch of Lu International in Singapore is a highly significant development. A subsidiary of the largest online wealth mana…
You Are … Then You Aren’t … What Then?
As Confucius said, "the humane enjoy mountains, and live long lives". PHILOSOPHERS have long queried how the role of attachments and detachm…
The Art Of Charlie Chan Hock Chye Wins Big
WE HAVE what it takes for Singaporeans to make it on the global stage on their own steam. Joseph Schooling did it, winning gold at the Olymp…
ETFs — Bucking The Trend For Want Of A Quick Buck
IS SOMETHING amiss with Exchange-Traded Funds funds (ETFs) in Singapore? They seem to have lost their lustre in the Singapore bourse. Many …
3 Insults From Trump The Terrible At G20
IF THE Chairman of a major International Company had to leave his seat at a conference to decide the future of the industry his place would …
Ransomware — The Line Between Crime And Terror
THE RECENT ransomware infections, “WannaCry” and “Petya”, are a worrying trend for the world as they could be precursors of something more o…
Killing Light And Living In The Dark
FROM THE brilliance of invention, mankind has plunged into the depths of soulless materialism. What can we do to exit the dark and enter the…
Charger Award — Taking Stock Of The Market
IT WOULD seem that Singapore’s stock market (SGX) needs all the help it can get. Even though the Straits Times Index is close to all-time hi…
House And Home Divided
SUDDENLY, it’s become lonelier at the top. The dramatic public nature of the spat between the Lee siblings raises flags on a number of front…
The Certainty Of Uncertainty Ahead
THE NOISE in the global economy is getting louder. The noise in Singapore is also growing louder as the ruling Lee family squabbles over a n…
Conform Or Perform? Singapore’s Dilemma
THE MILLENNIALS are certainly wired differently to previous generations. And they may reshape how things work. When more than 1,000 affluent…
In Need Of A Brand New Brand Strategy?
ONE of the first things that strikes you when you read Koh Buck Song’s Brand Singapore book is how the process of branding Singapore has bee…
Feeling Blue Or Seeing Red?
THE EMIRATES F.A. Cup drew to a close a well-contested season of English football. The 2016-2017 season will see the traditional big boys of…
Must Political Change Come From Within?
PROMINENT local architect Tay Kheng Soon was interviewed on radio recently. While he had many interesting things to say, the reactions and c…
Faking It For Effect?
IN A recent poll, some 40% of Singaporeans wondered whether the news they read was true or false. The survey also found that 61% of those po…
Weaving Words And Spinning Yarns
THE POWER of the story to hold one’s attention is evident around us. Yet, many do not make full use of its ability to enthrall and engage. I…
May Day! Repetitious Vicious Circle Ahead!
THE VARIOUS May Day messages from government and labour leaders in the last few years have centred on how Singapore must move quickly toward…
Winning In A Time Of Losing
STORM picked up another award for its print version at WAN-IFRA's Publish Asia awards held in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday. The guest of honour…
Video Referee — For Justice Or Ratings?
IN A technologically enriched world, it is curious indeed that video refereeing doesn’t play a significant role in football. Major sports li…
Should Orchard Road Traffic Be Stopped?
ORCHARD Road started off as a site for nutmeg and fruit plantations and when the world changed, it repurposed itself into a shopping belt. N…
I Hear And Listen To … The Silence
IN A noisy world, the value of silence is often lost on society. From the noise of incessant chatter and motion, to the noise of images flic…
Causeway Jams — In A Pickle And A Bind
AHEAD of the Easter long weekend, people going into Malaysia via the road links will have to brace themselves for the perennial jams — both …
Is Healthy Eating, Unhealthy?
THE ONGOING quest for health and healthy eating could result in a negative reaction. Something to be nervous about...? Psychiatrists have de…
The Unsettling Growing Wealth Disparity
SINGAPORE’S wealth is evident in the bulging pockets of some, but not reflected across society. Credit Suisse Research Institute’s (CSRI) an…
Negotiating Watery Depths
WHEN you want to make a point, you should make it with a big splash. At least that’s how it is for Lewis Pugh, who literally dives into any …
It’s Never Too Late To Connect
TECHNOLOGY can be used to take us into the future, but can also help us today to bridge the chasm that divides the generations. “I see no ho…
Big Data Is The New Balance Sheet
AT A recent conference at fintech hub Lattice80 in Singapore, one of the panels of industry practitioners discussed how Big Data can be tran…
Your Mind Has Been Colonised!
FOR THE highly regarded Kenyan author, Professor Ngugi wa Thiong'o, the world is still too wrapped up in its colonial mentality to fulfil it…
Going Ape With Bernard Harrison
DESPITE having left the Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari several years ago, Bernard Harrison is still remembered for his role in creating …
Cash In The Bank Or Cash And Carry?
THE DATA suggests that Singapore’s reputation as a shopping paradise is taking a beating. Retail sales grew by a lacklustre 2.0% in January …
Magic Babe Goes Mental
CAREFUL what's on your mind when you're around Ning Cai. The former Magic Babe Ning turned cerebral as an author and is now putting on the …
Why The 30% Water Hike Deceives The CPI
THE FURORE over the announcement that water prices will be hiked by 30% in two steps—from July 1 this year and next year--has not died down.…
BMW 5 Hits A High
THE LAUNCH of the new BMW 5 Series raised the bar for the car industry. Anyone expecting the usual car launch of speeches, music, drinks, un…
How Tourism Affects Our Population Numbers
THE ANNOUNCEMENT that water prices will be hiked by 30% in Singapore, and the message that the government wants the population to be more ca…
Growing CPF Returns…Work In Progress
A LONG-STANDING gripe against the financial industry comes from retail investors who often pay fees for products that do not deliver returns…
Good Leaders Must KISS And Tell
Leaders must be effective communicators, and to be so, you must be able to KISS. Simply put, you must be able to Keep It Simple and Sweet. T…
Need A Licence To Surf The Internet?
SHOULD you be required to have a licence to use the Internet? You wouldn't let someone drive a car without being licensed because of the pot…
Teaming Up At Start Up To Avoid Break Ups
IN RECENT years, the annual listing of start ups to watch in Singapore have focused on their ability to pull in investors' cash. According t…
The Game Of The Name
Are you spending because it's Bond or Craig? Twocoms / Shutterstock.com JAMES Bond is staring out at me from the page of a glossy magazine, …
Not The Magnificent 7 — CFE Report
AFTER one year of talking about it to over 9,000 stakeholders, the future of Singapore has been boiled down to seven strategies that could e…
Meddling With The Middleman
THE middleman's role in today's business environment is that of a tightrope walker balancing on a kite string coated with dangerous glass. C…
Trump Wants To Even The Score
ONE THING you have to say about US President Donald Trump is that he’s trying his best to live up to his campaign promises. One of the first…
Fake News Broadens The Mind?
Lightspring / Shutterstock.com TWO epic events occurred last year that got more people thinking about the reliability of news from th…
High Speed Rail Impact
AhXiong / Shutterstock.com WHILE a high speed rail (HSR) link between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur has been talked about since the 1990s, it i…
Valiant Asian Knight In Valencia
LevanteMedia / Shutterstock.com ASTUTE decisions, a willingness (and ability) to wait things out and luck are often collaborators in events …
2017 – Off To A Rubbish Start
Svetlana Maslova / Shutterstock.com AS THE festivities came to an end early on Sunday morning, efforts were already underway to clean…
Hello It’s Hallyu Time
THE Korean wave — Hallyu — has been a big draw for Singapore this year, based on Google searches. Korean TV shows clinching six out …
Insuring Against Future Road Mishaps?
WOULD the right training and some insurance buy-in help bring down road fatalities? That rather horrifying video of the Mercedes-Benz going …
The World Needs Stronger Leaders
THERE is a protest movement taking place against governments around the world, observes Western Australia’s Premier Colin Barnett. “You saw …
I AM ANGRY! What Do I Do Next?
rangizzz / Shutterstock.com AT some point, we will blow our top. There is more to getting angry than just venting. But anger is frown…
Racing Strategy And Checkered Fortunes
Strategy is a vital ingredient in sport, business or life. After all, it's commonly believed that to the victor go the spoils. And the only …
Trump — The Dawn Of A Dark Age
THE election of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the USA and the decision by the UK to exit the European Union are, I believe, consequences…
The Metal Mole Tunnelling Under Singapore
STORM takes you underground on a mole's-eye tour of the tunnelling process that will eventually become the Thomson-East Coast MRT Line (TEL)…
Book Of Life Stories
A small book rich with the views of life’s lessons could make for a gift that goes a long way. By Kannan Chandran In this era of mind-numbin…
3 Types of Praising To Avoid
If you feel praising a child is helping them feel good about themselves, think again. Praise can be the contaminated carrot, with a stick at…
Martina Navratilova Still Holds Court
Martina Navratilova still serving up winners on the mic. In a wide-ranging chat, tennis ace Martina Navratilova spoke about defection, telep…
Hunger In A Food Paradise
On World Food Day, many are going hungry. Hunger in a land filled with food and foodies affects a disproportionately large number of people …
Legacy Of King Bhumibol
A Millennial Thai recalls with fondness how King Bhumibol Adulyadej led the nation along a road to growth and sufficiency. By Puvanat Kuntan…
Quit Clowning Around
They once brought joy, but in a complicated world, some people have grown to fear clowns and need therapy. What can you do about it? By Shyl…
Are You Afraid Of Clowns?
They used to make you laugh and announce the arrival of the circus. But today’s clowns can also make you wet your pants. By Kannan Chandran …
Going For More Than Gold
Grabbing gold at the Olympics is the pinnacle of achievement, but sport can do more to build stronger bonds between all areas of society. By…
‘Sup WhatsApp?
WhatsApp users are up in arms about the fact their data will be handed over to parent company Facebook. What are your options? By Kannan Cha…
The Cost Of An Olympian
What is the cost of creating an Olympic gold medal athlete? Beyond the grit and determination, it's about the money. STORM looks at the cost…
It’s The Message That Matters
Stand and deliver is the normal practice, but does it always have to be so? By Kannan Chandran In an era of discussion and dialogue, leaders…
Living The Dream
Fresh from his winning exploits in the Olympic pool in Rio, Joseph Schooling returned to a hero’s welcome. Feted by the authorities, ambushe…
The Benefits Of Schooling
The young lad, Joseph Schooling, has come of age in so many ways, bringing together a nation through sport. By Kannan Chandran Making a big …
Smartly Plugging In
We are being groomed to become mobile couch potatoes. Habitap wants to create a seamless experience for users who may want to use multiple s…
Seeing Stars
The Michelin Guide rolls into town bringing with it that delicious mix of choice restaurant cuts and heady gossip about who should have grab…
Exit Strategy
As Brexit becomes a reality, will that signal to other blocs that nothing is cast in stone? By Rai Vikhnod It looks like getting along isn’t…
Can Pragmatists Read For Pleasure?
With the advent of mobile devices and the onset of rapid urbanisation, Singaporeans are losing out on the reading habit, though there wasn't…
When Winning Is Losing
There’s no such thing as a sure thing. Even when you’ve got your hands on the prize, you can find yourself unceremoniously booted out the do…
The Rise of Society
The third instalment of The Coming Wars grapples with the constantly shifting and disruptive nature of societies in today’s world. What is a…
Popping Up At The Wrong Place
Pop-up stores are inevitable at a time when customers rae easily jaded and constantly on the look out for things that will surprise them. Bu…
3 Key Commitments Of The Dalai Lama
THE wisdom and peace-loving ways of the Dalai Lama have developed a strong following globally. His recent tour of the US brought him to Alab…
6 Dalai Lama Perspectives
DURING his visit to the US for the Interfaith Discussion, the Dalai Lama offered words of wisdom, as he is wont to. Listed below are some of…
A Vulnerable Future
His journey from runaway to President is well documented. Many parts of S.R. Nathan's journey are echoed in the lives of Singapore's pioneer…
Cycles Of Torture — Tour de France
THE ANNUAL Tour de France grips Europe and a watching world as the drama on wheels pits pumped up cyclists against each other, their inner d…
The Cheating Cycles
THE TEMPTATION is great. The risks are remote. Would you cheat if you knew you could get away with it? Many do, thinking they’ve done no wro…
