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Rising above its troubled neighbours
 As the regional financial crisis intensified this past year, Singapore's better-managed economy became an affront to its jealous neighbours. Indonesia sought to put the city-state in its place by dismissing it as a dot on the map of south-east Asia. Hong Kong attempted to undermine Singapore's achievements by tagging it a controlled society. And Malaysia seized control over airspace it had shared with Singapore for decades in just one of many attempts to lash out at its closest rival. ...more
INTERVIEW:
'It may take us three years, but we will recover'
Goh Chok Tong, prime minister of Singapore, has been successfully guiding the country though the regional financial crisis amid a sea of regional instability. ...more
GOVERNMENT:
Appetite for reform dulled by economic security
Last year, Gandhi Ambalam, vice-chairman of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), failed to show up for a discreet meeting planned in the thick of a bustling Raffles Hotel bar. This year, the opposition politician boldly threw open the doors of his office. ...more
NEW STRATEGIES:
In good shape, but alert to competitiveness worries
One by one the crisis-hit economies of south-east Asia sank into recession this past year, and Singapore was unable to avoid the same fate. But its downturn, while representing a sharp deceleration from 8 per cent growth recorded in 1997, was far less severe. ...more
BANKS:
Cosy regime begins to feel the pressure
With a population of 3m, Singapore is one of the most over-banked countries in the world. ...more
TECHNOLOGY:
Master plan for e-commerce
Singapore's commitment to information technology as the means to become an "intelligent" island, a "virtual intermediary" at the heart of the region, capable of handling S$4bn worth of electronic commerce a year by 2003, is incontrovertible. ...more
BONDS:
Pivotal to a wider ambition
Among the many pieces of conventional wisdom to have emerged from the Asian financial crisis is the view that Asian countries would be wise to develop active domestic bond markets. Yet in a region where little - and, in some cases, nothing - has so far been done by governments to extend domestic yield curves, Singapore stands out as an obvious exception. ...more
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