It’s Official: The Singapore Government Has Blasted Off To Cyber Space!

Man it had to happen – it’s bound to happen – and now it’s finally happened. What am I talking about? The Singapore Government has decided to put on their space suits and magnetic booties to explore cyber space big time. It’s all here in this article:

http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_150344.html

Nope it’s not just talk this time, it’s real and just in case you have any doubts, I have even gutted out the juicy bits just to show you how serious they are in projecting into the virtual:

“AN IT-SAVVY government agency here owns an island – but one which does not exist in the real world.

Along with at least two other agencies, the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) has bought real estate to operate in a universe that exists only online.

This virtual world, called Second Life, is visited by more than 8.9 million residents from about 100 real-world countries.

Besides the IDA, the Singapore Tourism Board and Economic Development Board have bought stakes there – not for commercial gain, but to reach their audiences, or to explore operations in a virtual world.

Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts Balaji Sadasivan, revealing this yesterday, noted that life in this digital age was making the world increasingly porous, so it was important for people to ‘exploit the opportunities opening up’ in the cyberworld.”

Now I know most of you don’t really know what the virtual is – it remains the stuff of I know, but not really. So I am going to spend a few minutes just laying it out.

Deconstructing the Singapore Dream

This essay talks about the Singapore Dream. It will be integrated into Christopher’s current project Sowing the Seeds of Prosperity, a beginner’s guide to personal finance

There is a lot of talk about what the Singapore Dream is. Books have been written about it but there are seldom any specifics on what it really is. Could the Singaporean Dream be one where a person becomes a millionaire? Is it the accumulation of all the 5 Cs? Or is it is a complicated journey involving Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and reaching self-actualization?

“Living the Singapore Dream”, a book written by Tan Yong Soon, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, attempts to highlight the lives of 23 Singaporeans who are living the dream. The stories were originally meant to inspire fellow Singaporeans to stretch themselves to achieve personal success and happiness in their lives.

The original intention of the author was a very good one. His chapter headlines were all universally good advice. We are encouraged to “Triumph over life’s imperfections” and “Pursue your goals with passion and persistence”.

But sadly, this piece of work failed to inspire me.

Aug 21

• City of Immobilities

  from Sheep City

• OPQ 16 July 2007: Economic Development Board

  from Siew Kum Hong

• PM’s Rally Speech and Endangered Malay Families: A…

  from Singapore Angle

• Alternative Rally: Bhimbo Day Rally

  from To Fix a Mocking Peasant

• Minister George Yeo’s speech at the opening ceremony…

  from BEYOND SG

• Of the PM’s Speech

  from Winter Is Coming

• PM Lee & The Aging Population

  from Mr Wang Says So

Why Only Dummies Search For God in the Net? – A Cautionary Tale

Some articles are easy to write, others are just painful – this is the latter. I had it lying around in my inbox for months rotting away, but it seems like a good time now to just let it go when all the confetti about the ND speech has settled. It’s a very personal take on what happens when we go on-line to search for God – a cautionary tale even about how a good idea can go so very wrong so bear in mind though the message may even be humorous, the message is dead serious. If you’re not in the mood for the personals this Tuesday, skip it.