Commentary

Nurturing Singapore's SMEs with the 'right' capital

Small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) are the engine of our economy. Today, SMEs represent 99 percent of Singaporean companies, contribute more than 50 percent of the nation’s annual GDP, and employ about 70 percent of our workforce.

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Nurturing Singapore's SMEs with the 'right' capital

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Declining productivity in Singapore: Are you too busy being busy?

Sounds like an odd statement, doesn't it? Surely we're all busy and that's a good thing, isn't it? Well, maybe not. Despite the considerable efforts of the government, labour productivity in Singapore is declining rather than improving. Official figures show a contraction of 0.8% in 2014 and a further 0.6% in Q1 2015.

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The ultimate white-collar boxing match: Singapore versus Hong Kong

The debate around whether Singapore or Hong Kong is the best city in Asia to work is long-running, with proponents for each city standing toe-to-toe in the ring. In one corner, we have those in favour of Singapore, waxing lyrical about the food, cleanliness, and safety of the Republic while berating Hong Kong's pollution, grumpy taxi drivers, and lack of personal space.

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The changing face of recruitment in Singapore

Recruitment in Singapore has evolved to a different level in the last five years. If you have searched for a job in the recent past, the difference is quite stark.

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Bringing traffic back to Singapore's retailers

Singapore's retail sector has been slowing down in the past two years, and retail rents are starting to be affected in line with the steady decline in occupancy rates. The strong Sing Dollar and weak consumer sentiment in China is expected to further dampen growth in the coming months.

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3 things you need to know about employee health insurance in Singapore

In Singapore, many employee remuneration and benefits packages have a heavy emphasis on access to health insurance. And little wonder this is the case when local health-cost inflation is taken into consideration. Private treatment options are a highly sought after benefit because of the potential costs involved and, for companies of all sizes, this coverage is increasingly seen as a 'must have' by existing and potential staff.

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Predicting Singapore's dying consumer industries in 2018

Singapore economy has undergone tremendous change over the past few decades. From one that is highly focussed on manufacturing in the 1970s, we have evolved into R&D in the 1980s, biomedical in the 1990s and is still emphasising very much on R&D albeit at a much broader scale than before.

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Boosting productivity in Singapore: The use of learning strategies

Question: How do you get new waiters to memorise the food and drinks menu in a short span of time? For the matter, how do you get new staff to learn about voluminous and complex Standard Operating Procedures in your company?

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Foreign talent in Singapore: A win-win

The recent celebration of Singapore's 50th anniversary, or SG50, provides us with a timely opportunity to reflect on the decades of success that the Lion City has experienced and remind ourselves why it's such a popular destination for foreign talent.

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The implications of evolving modern retail in Singapore

In July, British retail giant Tesco announced it would delist all fruit drinks with added sugars from their shelves, and sell only 'no added sugar' variants. Why? It's part of their role as champions of the fight against the new evil: sugar. Given Tesco holds around 30% of the grocery market in the UK, the move is seriously bad news for some very big brands.

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Empowering mothers at the workplace in Singapore

In his speech, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and the Secretary General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), Mr Chan Chun Sing described the workplace of the future to be objective and time-driven – as long as objectives are met, there is no need to stay in the office for long hours.

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How are you using Glassdoor to engage talent in Singapore?

I remember working for a larger corporation when I was younger and we'd be asked to dress up on certain days when we were expecting clients or important guests. Like children, we were instructed to put on our best behaviour that day. Take a deep breath. You can change into your T-shirts when they leave. Phew!

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Should you invest in Singapore property now?

A slew of property cooling measures introduced by the Singapore government over the last few years have taken a toll in the Singapore property market. Not that potential investors are complaining, as take-up rates in Q2 of 2015 continue to inch up a substantial 61%, according to statistics by the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

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Realising Singapore's Smart Nation vision

Singapore has set for itself an exciting goal to evolve into a Smart Nation over the next couple of years. It is an admirable and a progressive notion, much ahead of her time and that of many other countries.

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What SMEs should do when competing for public tenders in Singapore

A recent study by analytics firm Vector Scorecard and National University of Singapore Business school found that a higher proportion of companies that are well managed or attain higher financial ratings tend to dominate public-sector projects.

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Bursting bubbles: Graduates' askewed job expectations

Career service and guidance is becoming a big emphasis for many tertiary schools in Singapore. In fact if you take a look at Gebiz (Singapore government procurement portal), many schools at the secondary level have already done their fair share of career workshops in one form or another.

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