January 8, 2018
Soft power is the ability of a country to shape other countries’ views, attitudes, perceptions and actions without force or coercion. Its importance has been acknowledged for centuries, though the term was only coined by American political scientist and author Joseph Nye in the late 1980s.… Read More
January 3, 2018.
Constrained by space and population size, Singapore has had to think smart to meet its challenges.… Read More
December 31, 2017
To go from Third World to the top of the world, Singapore went for ‘soft’ options – like changing mindsets – and hard rules, such as the Land Acquisition Act and congestion pricing.… Read More
December 20, 2017
Delhi is home to 20 million residents, and the city’s more than 10 million vehicles are a major contributor to air pollution. Industrial emissions are also to blame. Thirteen coal-fired power stations operate within a 300 kilometre radius of the city.… Read More
December 6, 2017
In resource-scarce Singapore, the mentality of providing resources ad infinitum, even if they are efficiently used, has to change.… Read More
December 5, 2017
Improved human well-being is one of the modern era’s greatest triumphs. The age of plenty has also led to an unexpected global health crisis: two billion people are either overweight or obese. Developed countries have been especially susceptible to unhealthy weight gain, a trend that could be considered the price of abundance. However, developing countries are now facing a similar crisis.… Read More
December 4, 2017
A decade ago water was not even in the list of 10 major global risks of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Recently, it has been consistently one of the most important global risks identified by WEF. The question then arises: how is it that water transformed itself from a bit player on the world stage to become one of the most urgent issues within a short period of only 10 years?… Read More
November 11, 2017
As the effects of environmental pollution in China have become more devastating and visible, the government strengthened its Environmental Protection Law this year for the first time in a quarter of a century.… Read More
November 9, 2017
The country’s new global role will test the limits of its liberalisation.… Read More
October 31, 2017
This will slow migration to the cities, which are already over-populated.… Read More