Tag Archives: Straits Times 21 Oct 2014

CONSUMERS are generally happy with the telephone and broadband services available here - though one in three would like to see telcos do something to reduce waiting times to their hotlines. These were the findings of the latest consumer awareness and satisfaction survey commissioned by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA).

Singapore Tourism Board's assistant chief executive Lynette Pang welcomed the accolade. "We are humbled by this tremendous result, and honoured by the recognition of Singapore's efforts not just in tourism, but also in heritage conservation, greenery, dining, arts and many other areas."

Singapore achieved its enviable, probably unrivalled record of incorruptibility largely because Mr Lee Kuan Yew set a tone of governance which equated to an almost ascetic personal lifestyle. If future political leaders become blase about corruption, accepting it perhaps as part of the general cynicism of the New Normal, and value their occupation as similar to that of the well-paid investment bankers against whom their pay is benchmarked, rather than as an almost-sacred mission, then Singapore indeed will no longer be exceptional.

This is partly because privately-run degree programmes at schools such as Singapore Institute of Management and the Management Development Institute of Singapore are churning out more graduates, NTUC's Mr Tay noted. Meanwhile, more people are earning degrees in lower-income countries, increasing the competition for mid-level jobs even as the number of such jobs declines.