Southern Baptist Agency to Cut Missionary Force by 600
Thu, Nov. 26, 2009 Posted: 12:09 PM EDT
The Southern Baptist Convention’s international mission agency will cut its overseas force by as many as 600 missionaries in 2010.
Due to a severe budget shortfall, the International Mission Board decided to reduce the number of missionaries it has on the field, with the process already starting this year. The board will not bring home missionaries already serving on the field, but the reduction instead will result from natural attrition.
“We are simply not going to be sending as many new missionaries,” explained Wendy Norvelle, IMB spokesperson, to The Christian Post on Wednesday.
Some missionaries serve two- to three-year terms, Novelle pointed out, and the IMB will simply let those terms expire. Other long-term missionaries will retire or resign to take on positions in other ministries.
There are currently a little above 5,500 IMB missionaries overseas and the plan is to decrease that number to about 5,000 by the end of 2010.
The decision to reduce the missionary force is based on several factors, but mostly because of the economy, Norvelle said.
IMB has three major sources of income: regular offering in churches through the Cooperative Program, investments, and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, which makes up more than half of the agency’s annual budget.
Last year, all three sources of income were down by millions of dollars each. The 2008 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering was $9 million less than the total received in 2007. Moreover, it was $29 million short of the $170 million goal.
A smaller budget means less money to support overseas missionaries.
Norvelle said reducing the number of missionaries will have an effect on the Southern Baptist Convention’s mission work.
“Obviously, what we are about is taking the Gospel to people who never had the opportunity to hear and sending fewer people means there will be fewer forces and personnel on the field taking the Gospel where it needs to go,” she said.
“So yes, it will affect us. We are not able to, for instance, put some new personnel in an unreached people group.”
But Norvelle said SBC churches are widely becoming aware that the resources provided for mission work were not adequate and are discussing the concern. Many SBC leaders are “sounding the alarm” and saying the situation is unacceptable, she said.
“Southern Baptist [churches] took in $12 billion in 2008 in their offering plate,” the IMB spokesperson pointed out. “And so some of it may be a matter of priority of how churches choose to spend their dollar. Whether they use it to focus on reaching the lost world or spend it on programs and ministries that benefit themselves.”
The International Mission Board is an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest evangelical denomination. The SBC claims more than 40,000 churches with nearly 16 million members.
Michelle A. Vu
Christian Post Reporter
Showing posts with label Economics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Economics. Show all posts
Monday, November 22, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
Praying for the folks in Belaga, Sarawak
Belaga folk left high and dry
By ZORA CHAN
zora@thestar.com.my
Saturday November 13, 2010
BELAGA: Life is tough. That's a fact the people in the district have learnt the hard way.
The impoundment of the Bakun Dam in the upper reaches of Rajang River since a month ago has not only changed the natural landscape but also impacted the people's life socio-economically.
With very little water flowing from upstream, the river has shrunk and restricted navigational activities along the river.
Sandy banks and riverbed are visible and in some places, rocky beds are exposed, making navigation impossible for tugboats and express boats.
It has also become a joke in Belaga bazaar that people can play football on the riverbed.
Community leader Penghulu Neo Hood Joo, 62, said he had lived in Belaga all his life and had never come across sand banks or riverbeds until about two weeks ago.
Even in the driest months, between June and July, the water level was still higher than what it is now, he said.
Although he and other community leaders had been briefed on the impact of the impoundment and passed on the information to the ground, many were still caught by surprise when water level dropped drastically, he added.
"We didn't expect the water level to be so low that it stops express boats and tongkang operations from Kapit to Belaga," he said.
Neo said the government and experts should have anticipated this and built a road to link Kapit and Belaga before the impoundment began.
"Some shopkeepers still get their supplies through tongkang from Kapit because they do not have 4WDs to buy supplies from Bintulu, which is about four hours from here by logging road," he said.
He said the locals also feared that the coming rainy season would hamper transportation by land as some parts of the logging tracks would become too muddy and slippery.
"What if we were also cut off by road as well due to bad weather? Are we ready to face the challenges ahead?" he asked.
Neo said people in Belaga who worked in Kapit and Sibu would have problems getting to their villages for Christmas next month because the express service had stopped.
"They will have to fork out extra expenses to return by land from Bintulu. This also means a longer journey home, from just three hours by express boat from Kapit to two days by express boat from Kapit to Sibu, then from Sibu to Bintulu by land or air.
"A trip home that used to cost RM50 or less is now up to RM200 per person," he added.
All this would cause financial hardship to the people who were from low and medium-income groups, he said.
Neo said students studying at SMK Belaga would also face difficulty going back to their longhouses along the river.
"They can only use small longboats that will take a longer time to reach their villages compared to express boats. It is also dangerous because they have to navigate past rapids downstream," he added.
There are about 30 longhouse villages along the river.
Echoing the same sentiment, Penghulu Nicholas Mering Kulleh, 52, said most villagers could not afford to buy life jackets which cost between RM30 and RM50 each.
"If there are five people in a family, that's more than RM100 and the people, who are mainly self-sufficient farmers, cannot afford it," he said.
He said the impoundment had already claimed two lives, one at Korea Rapids upriver and another near Punan Biau downriver.
"Those living along the river are putting their lives at risk whenever they go to Belaga bazaar because of rapids, rocky riverbeds, jutting logs and dead trees," said the community leader, fondly known as Penghulu Nyalang.
Nyalang said he was also worried about sick villagers not being able to get help from Belaga Hospital due to the drying river.
"Life is tough. I am afraid it will be tougher in the coming days if the water level gets lower each day and there is not enough rain," he added.
He urged the government to build roads connecting some of the villages to the logging road that connects Belaga to Bintulu.
A villager from Rumah Tanjong, William Liah, 43, said he used to catch three to four fish a day weighing a few kilogrammes each, but that had changed.
"It's getting harder to catch fish as the fish have gone elsewhere," he said, adding that he planted padi and caught fish to survive.
Showing a fish weighing about 4kg that he had just caught after a week, he said it would fetch him about RM90, which was just enough to buy fuel to return home from the Belaga baazar.
"Some of us used to catch a lot of fish like labang, baung, mengalan, empurau and tapah further upriver near the dam's gate when the impoundment started. But that windfall was shortlived," he lamented.
He said he was among the few villagers who dared to navigate through the rapids to sell fish and buy rations.
"It's tough and risky, but do we have a choice? We still need to eat and live," he said.
On Thursday, former environment adviser to the Sarawak government, Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit, said water released from the dam should be about 150 cubic metres per second based on the Downstream Environ ment Assessment study done in the mid-1990s.
However, Sarawak Hidro was only releasing 110 cubic metres of water per second.
By ZORA CHAN
zora@thestar.com.my
Saturday November 13, 2010
BELAGA: Life is tough. That's a fact the people in the district have learnt the hard way.
The impoundment of the Bakun Dam in the upper reaches of Rajang River since a month ago has not only changed the natural landscape but also impacted the people's life socio-economically.
With very little water flowing from upstream, the river has shrunk and restricted navigational activities along the river.
Sandy banks and riverbed are visible and in some places, rocky beds are exposed, making navigation impossible for tugboats and express boats.
It has also become a joke in Belaga bazaar that people can play football on the riverbed.
Community leader Penghulu Neo Hood Joo, 62, said he had lived in Belaga all his life and had never come across sand banks or riverbeds until about two weeks ago.
Even in the driest months, between June and July, the water level was still higher than what it is now, he said.
Although he and other community leaders had been briefed on the impact of the impoundment and passed on the information to the ground, many were still caught by surprise when water level dropped drastically, he added.
"We didn't expect the water level to be so low that it stops express boats and tongkang operations from Kapit to Belaga," he said.
Neo said the government and experts should have anticipated this and built a road to link Kapit and Belaga before the impoundment began.
"Some shopkeepers still get their supplies through tongkang from Kapit because they do not have 4WDs to buy supplies from Bintulu, which is about four hours from here by logging road," he said.
He said the locals also feared that the coming rainy season would hamper transportation by land as some parts of the logging tracks would become too muddy and slippery.
"What if we were also cut off by road as well due to bad weather? Are we ready to face the challenges ahead?" he asked.
Neo said people in Belaga who worked in Kapit and Sibu would have problems getting to their villages for Christmas next month because the express service had stopped.
"They will have to fork out extra expenses to return by land from Bintulu. This also means a longer journey home, from just three hours by express boat from Kapit to two days by express boat from Kapit to Sibu, then from Sibu to Bintulu by land or air.
"A trip home that used to cost RM50 or less is now up to RM200 per person," he added.
All this would cause financial hardship to the people who were from low and medium-income groups, he said.
Neo said students studying at SMK Belaga would also face difficulty going back to their longhouses along the river.
"They can only use small longboats that will take a longer time to reach their villages compared to express boats. It is also dangerous because they have to navigate past rapids downstream," he added.
There are about 30 longhouse villages along the river.
Echoing the same sentiment, Penghulu Nicholas Mering Kulleh, 52, said most villagers could not afford to buy life jackets which cost between RM30 and RM50 each.
"If there are five people in a family, that's more than RM100 and the people, who are mainly self-sufficient farmers, cannot afford it," he said.
He said the impoundment had already claimed two lives, one at Korea Rapids upriver and another near Punan Biau downriver.
"Those living along the river are putting their lives at risk whenever they go to Belaga bazaar because of rapids, rocky riverbeds, jutting logs and dead trees," said the community leader, fondly known as Penghulu Nyalang.
Nyalang said he was also worried about sick villagers not being able to get help from Belaga Hospital due to the drying river.
"Life is tough. I am afraid it will be tougher in the coming days if the water level gets lower each day and there is not enough rain," he added.
He urged the government to build roads connecting some of the villages to the logging road that connects Belaga to Bintulu.
A villager from Rumah Tanjong, William Liah, 43, said he used to catch three to four fish a day weighing a few kilogrammes each, but that had changed.
"It's getting harder to catch fish as the fish have gone elsewhere," he said, adding that he planted padi and caught fish to survive.
Showing a fish weighing about 4kg that he had just caught after a week, he said it would fetch him about RM90, which was just enough to buy fuel to return home from the Belaga baazar.
"Some of us used to catch a lot of fish like labang, baung, mengalan, empurau and tapah further upriver near the dam's gate when the impoundment started. But that windfall was shortlived," he lamented.
He said he was among the few villagers who dared to navigate through the rapids to sell fish and buy rations.
"It's tough and risky, but do we have a choice? We still need to eat and live," he said.
On Thursday, former environment adviser to the Sarawak government, Datuk Dr James Dawos Mamit, said water released from the dam should be about 150 cubic metres per second based on the Downstream Environ ment Assessment study done in the mid-1990s.
However, Sarawak Hidro was only releasing 110 cubic metres of water per second.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Most of the big spenders are young professionals, married and singles, and the wealthy
Recession hits Singapore unevenly
Insight Down South
By SEAH CHIANG NEE
Saturday October 31, 2009
While the rich few rejoice, many Singaporeans are making do quietly.
YOUNG Singaporeans, who were raised in an era of affluence, have been indulging in a spending binge that appears out of line with economic realities.
The splurge, which followed signs of a mild recovery in recent weeks, resulted in a strong price run-up in stocks, properties and cars, taking many economists by surprise.
It was so strong that people were ironically fearful of an asset bubble building up during a weak economy. This apparent over-indulgence appears to ignore repeated warnings from government leaders and economists that more job cuts are in store and the recession could return.
One of its sovereign wealth funds, Temasek Holdings, said that as far as it was concerned, Singapore is still in crisis.
Despite these, expensive restaurants are once again packed with weekend diners and private clubs, once quiet, are again buzzing.
Most of the big spenders are young professionals, married and singles, and the wealthy. Their buying has caused prices of resale public flats and private condominiums to soar.
And despite the downturn, car usage in Singapore – one of the costliest in the world – has risen at the expense of public transport.
Analysts have, however, pointed out that the consumer splashing is unlikely to last and is only one aspect of life in a recession.
It is confined largely to the upper-middle class and irrationally exuberant professionals, who appear unfazed by the severity of it all.
Growing up in a golden era with years of news screaming about more good times ahead, many Singaporeans seem oblivious to their country’s vulnerability to world turmoil.
The bigger story is of a struggling middle class (some two-thirds of the population) that is too badly affected to be able to buy luxury items.
When I mentioned it to an old friend, a businessman and former human resource manager, he said the wider picture is different.
For the majority of workers, jobs have been lost and take-home pay diminished.
Almost all Singaporeans, rich and poor, have lost out in the recession, the worst being the poorer class.
“I admire these people very much. Mostly old and little skilled, they struggle on silently. No time to talk about their plight, just carry on working,” he said.
During the past two years, almost every Singaporean had to dip into his own savings to sustain himself, like the government did with its reserves in an effort to protect jobs.
The picture is different for the rich, whose number has been growing substantially through immigration.
The crisis has decimated fortunes, but the bulk of high-asset owners have enough financial muscle (again like the country itself) to ride out the storm or even prosper from it.
It is largely the spending habit of this group that fuelled the recent indulgence.
Years later, if writers looked back at the current severe downturn to ask what lasting impact the global crisis had on this society, one answer would be the erosion of the middle class.
The trend was first detected in Japan, and to a lesser extent in Hong Kong and Taiwan, as these middle-class societies prospered.
The theory, known as the M-shaped society, was enunciated by Japanese strategist Kenichi Ohmae. He observed that in Japan’s “M-shape” class distribution, very few middle-class people may climb up the ladder into the upper class, while the others gradually sank to the lower classes.
These people suffered a deterioration in living standards, faced the threat of unemployment, or their average salary was dropping, he said. Gradually, they could only live the way the lower classes lived: taking the bus instead of driving their own car, cutting their budget for meals instead of dining at better restaurants, and spending less on consumer goods.
Kenichi said all this might take place while the economy enjoyed remarkable growth and overall wages rose. However, the wealth increase may concentrate in the pockets of the very few rich people in society.
The masses cannot benefit from the growth, and their living standard goes into decline. For many middle-class Singaporeans, these sound uncomfortably like home.
The government, which relies on middle-class voters to keep itself in power, has vowed to make the closure of the economic gap a national priority.
It is a doubly tough job given the economic crisis which is widening – rather than narrowing – the differences. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew seems to find this gap an inevitable feature here.
Singapore has the second-highest income gap with a Gini score of 42.5 among developed economies after Hong Kong, according to the UN Development Programme report,
(The Gini Coefficient index measures the income gap between the poor and the rich in any country with zero denoting absolute equality.)
Lee was speaking at a forum with undergraduates when he rejected a minimum wage for workers to narrow this gap, saying it was more important to keep jobs.
“Never mind your Gini coefficient,” he said. “If you don’t have a job you get zero against those with jobs.” In other words it is better to have a job with lower pay than no job.
Such remarks would obviously be more acceptable, albeit grudgingly, to the previous generation of poorer citizens than the current one.
It was such logic that helped turn Singapore into the richest country in South-east Asia, with a per capita GDP income rising steadily in four decades to S$53,192 (RM130,048) in 2008.
But in today’s high-cost city with Singaporeans finding it harder and harder to cope with the crisis, his words have neither helped nor dispelled many concerns.
Insight Down South
By SEAH CHIANG NEE
Saturday October 31, 2009
While the rich few rejoice, many Singaporeans are making do quietly.
YOUNG Singaporeans, who were raised in an era of affluence, have been indulging in a spending binge that appears out of line with economic realities.
The splurge, which followed signs of a mild recovery in recent weeks, resulted in a strong price run-up in stocks, properties and cars, taking many economists by surprise.
It was so strong that people were ironically fearful of an asset bubble building up during a weak economy. This apparent over-indulgence appears to ignore repeated warnings from government leaders and economists that more job cuts are in store and the recession could return.
One of its sovereign wealth funds, Temasek Holdings, said that as far as it was concerned, Singapore is still in crisis.
Despite these, expensive restaurants are once again packed with weekend diners and private clubs, once quiet, are again buzzing.
Most of the big spenders are young professionals, married and singles, and the wealthy. Their buying has caused prices of resale public flats and private condominiums to soar.
And despite the downturn, car usage in Singapore – one of the costliest in the world – has risen at the expense of public transport.
Analysts have, however, pointed out that the consumer splashing is unlikely to last and is only one aspect of life in a recession.
It is confined largely to the upper-middle class and irrationally exuberant professionals, who appear unfazed by the severity of it all.
Growing up in a golden era with years of news screaming about more good times ahead, many Singaporeans seem oblivious to their country’s vulnerability to world turmoil.
The bigger story is of a struggling middle class (some two-thirds of the population) that is too badly affected to be able to buy luxury items.
When I mentioned it to an old friend, a businessman and former human resource manager, he said the wider picture is different.
For the majority of workers, jobs have been lost and take-home pay diminished.
Almost all Singaporeans, rich and poor, have lost out in the recession, the worst being the poorer class.
“I admire these people very much. Mostly old and little skilled, they struggle on silently. No time to talk about their plight, just carry on working,” he said.
During the past two years, almost every Singaporean had to dip into his own savings to sustain himself, like the government did with its reserves in an effort to protect jobs.
The picture is different for the rich, whose number has been growing substantially through immigration.
The crisis has decimated fortunes, but the bulk of high-asset owners have enough financial muscle (again like the country itself) to ride out the storm or even prosper from it.
It is largely the spending habit of this group that fuelled the recent indulgence.
Years later, if writers looked back at the current severe downturn to ask what lasting impact the global crisis had on this society, one answer would be the erosion of the middle class.
The trend was first detected in Japan, and to a lesser extent in Hong Kong and Taiwan, as these middle-class societies prospered.
The theory, known as the M-shaped society, was enunciated by Japanese strategist Kenichi Ohmae. He observed that in Japan’s “M-shape” class distribution, very few middle-class people may climb up the ladder into the upper class, while the others gradually sank to the lower classes.
These people suffered a deterioration in living standards, faced the threat of unemployment, or their average salary was dropping, he said. Gradually, they could only live the way the lower classes lived: taking the bus instead of driving their own car, cutting their budget for meals instead of dining at better restaurants, and spending less on consumer goods.
Kenichi said all this might take place while the economy enjoyed remarkable growth and overall wages rose. However, the wealth increase may concentrate in the pockets of the very few rich people in society.
The masses cannot benefit from the growth, and their living standard goes into decline. For many middle-class Singaporeans, these sound uncomfortably like home.
The government, which relies on middle-class voters to keep itself in power, has vowed to make the closure of the economic gap a national priority.
It is a doubly tough job given the economic crisis which is widening – rather than narrowing – the differences. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew seems to find this gap an inevitable feature here.
Singapore has the second-highest income gap with a Gini score of 42.5 among developed economies after Hong Kong, according to the UN Development Programme report,
(The Gini Coefficient index measures the income gap between the poor and the rich in any country with zero denoting absolute equality.)
Lee was speaking at a forum with undergraduates when he rejected a minimum wage for workers to narrow this gap, saying it was more important to keep jobs.
“Never mind your Gini coefficient,” he said. “If you don’t have a job you get zero against those with jobs.” In other words it is better to have a job with lower pay than no job.
Such remarks would obviously be more acceptable, albeit grudgingly, to the previous generation of poorer citizens than the current one.
It was such logic that helped turn Singapore into the richest country in South-east Asia, with a per capita GDP income rising steadily in four decades to S$53,192 (RM130,048) in 2008.
But in today’s high-cost city with Singaporeans finding it harder and harder to cope with the crisis, his words have neither helped nor dispelled many concerns.
Friday, October 23, 2009
I see Sabah as a powerful state ....
Sabah – paradise and a paradox
Friday October 23, 2009
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is a paradox – it is a land blessed with many resources yet remains poor.
That is how Prof W. Chan Kim, co-author of the best-selling Blue Ocean Strategy, sums up the state.
“When you have so much natural resources you are comfortable to sell what you have (but) what you have will one day disappear,” he said.
The professor, who co-authored the Blue Ocean Strategy with Renee Mauborgne, said there was a need to exploit the state’s resources in areas which are untapped.
Noting that Sabah was home to the third largest rainforest in the world, he said it was important that the state made itself known to the world as Asia’s rainforest tourism destination.
The main areas of economic growth in the world are pharmaceuticals, bio-science and telecommunications, he said, noting that the rainforest provided 25% of the ingredients for modern pharmaceutical use.
“I see Sabah as a powerful state especially compared to a place like Dubai which had nothing apart from a desert, goats and some oil and gas and today is a big tourist spot.
“You have incredible resources. Sabah can become better than Dubai but you must do more to attract the world,” he told reporters at a Yaysan Sabah-organised Blue Ocean Strategy conference opened by Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman.
The Blue Ocean Strategy is about finding new market space that offers low cost, in-demand solutions.
Prof Kim said his advice to Sabah was to conserve its resources and attract people from around the world to come and multiply its resources to improve its economy and eradicate poverty.
He said the state should look at the future and adopt new ways to handle its resources.
“You have to put the pieces of the jigsaw together to get the full picture,” he said.
Friday October 23, 2009
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is a paradox – it is a land blessed with many resources yet remains poor.
That is how Prof W. Chan Kim, co-author of the best-selling Blue Ocean Strategy, sums up the state.
“When you have so much natural resources you are comfortable to sell what you have (but) what you have will one day disappear,” he said.
The professor, who co-authored the Blue Ocean Strategy with Renee Mauborgne, said there was a need to exploit the state’s resources in areas which are untapped.
Noting that Sabah was home to the third largest rainforest in the world, he said it was important that the state made itself known to the world as Asia’s rainforest tourism destination.
The main areas of economic growth in the world are pharmaceuticals, bio-science and telecommunications, he said, noting that the rainforest provided 25% of the ingredients for modern pharmaceutical use.
“I see Sabah as a powerful state especially compared to a place like Dubai which had nothing apart from a desert, goats and some oil and gas and today is a big tourist spot.
“You have incredible resources. Sabah can become better than Dubai but you must do more to attract the world,” he told reporters at a Yaysan Sabah-organised Blue Ocean Strategy conference opened by Chief Minister Datuk Musa Aman.
The Blue Ocean Strategy is about finding new market space that offers low cost, in-demand solutions.
Prof Kim said his advice to Sabah was to conserve its resources and attract people from around the world to come and multiply its resources to improve its economy and eradicate poverty.
He said the state should look at the future and adopt new ways to handle its resources.
“You have to put the pieces of the jigsaw together to get the full picture,” he said.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
High location allowances?
Expatriates prefer KL, George Town
Published: Wednesday March 11, 2009 MYT 5:00:00 PM
SINGAPORE: The Malaysian cities of Kuala Lumpur and Georgetown are among the top 10 locations in Asia where Europeans prefer to work and live in, according to a latest international location ratings survey.
Kuala Lumpur was ranked ninth and Georgetown 10th, after Singapore, Kobe, Yokohama, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Macau, Seoul and Taipei, said ECA International, an agency that develops and provides solutions for the management and assignment of employees around the world, in its annual Location Ratings Survey.
The survey rates living standards in more than 400 locations globally, according to categories including climate, air quality, health services, housing and utilities, isolation, social network and leisure facilities, infrastructure, personal safety and political tensions.
Its overall ratings normally would be used by international human resources departments to establish allowances which compensate expatriate staff for the difficulties of adapting to living in their assignment location.
Both Kuala Lumpur and Georgetown were also ranked ninth in Asia for Asians to live in, the survey said, adding that in the world's rankings, they took 61st and 64th spots, respectively.
In that same global category, Singapore took first placing, followed by Kobe (3), Yokohama (4), Tokyo (6), Hong Kong (11), Taipei (56), Macau (56) and Bangkok (63).
"These rankings reveal a large gulf in the quality of living among Asian locations," said ECA International Regional Director Asia Lee Quane.
He said, while there were a handful of locations in Asia which offered Asian assignees a good standard of living, the majority of locations would be challenging in some shape or form and therefore, warranting high location allowances.
The survey also said Baghdad remained the least favourable location to live in, followed by Kabul, Karachi and Port-au-Prince.
"A lack of suitable facilities for expatriates, along with high personal security risk, makes these locations the least desirable," the survey said. - Bernama
Published: Wednesday March 11, 2009 MYT 5:00:00 PM
SINGAPORE: The Malaysian cities of Kuala Lumpur and Georgetown are among the top 10 locations in Asia where Europeans prefer to work and live in, according to a latest international location ratings survey.
Kuala Lumpur was ranked ninth and Georgetown 10th, after Singapore, Kobe, Yokohama, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Macau, Seoul and Taipei, said ECA International, an agency that develops and provides solutions for the management and assignment of employees around the world, in its annual Location Ratings Survey.
The survey rates living standards in more than 400 locations globally, according to categories including climate, air quality, health services, housing and utilities, isolation, social network and leisure facilities, infrastructure, personal safety and political tensions.
Its overall ratings normally would be used by international human resources departments to establish allowances which compensate expatriate staff for the difficulties of adapting to living in their assignment location.
Both Kuala Lumpur and Georgetown were also ranked ninth in Asia for Asians to live in, the survey said, adding that in the world's rankings, they took 61st and 64th spots, respectively.
In that same global category, Singapore took first placing, followed by Kobe (3), Yokohama (4), Tokyo (6), Hong Kong (11), Taipei (56), Macau (56) and Bangkok (63).
"These rankings reveal a large gulf in the quality of living among Asian locations," said ECA International Regional Director Asia Lee Quane.
He said, while there were a handful of locations in Asia which offered Asian assignees a good standard of living, the majority of locations would be challenging in some shape or form and therefore, warranting high location allowances.
The survey also said Baghdad remained the least favourable location to live in, followed by Kabul, Karachi and Port-au-Prince.
"A lack of suitable facilities for expatriates, along with high personal security risk, makes these locations the least desirable," the survey said. - Bernama
Monday, March 9, 2009
Come over to Asia!
SYDNEY, Mar 09, 2009 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- With the falling Australian dollar, the cost of living has plummeted across the country, but the most expensive city in the world is now in Asia, a survey has found.
The Economist magazine's cost of living survey shows Australian cities have become cheaper due to the battered Australian dollar, with Sydney dropping from 17th to 35th on its index of most expensive cities in the past six months.
Since September, Melbourne has fallen 15 places from 24 to 39, Brisbane from 35 to 57, while Adelaide plummeted to 72 after being listed at 48 in the last survey.
Auckland fell almost 30 places, from 49 to 78, while Wellington dropped 25 spots from 55 to 80.
A stronger yen saw Tokyo rise to top of the magazine's list of most expensive cities, knocking off Oslo in Norway, which fell to number five.
Osaka in Japan was listed at number two, Paris third, while Copenhagen in Denmark was fourth.
Apart from taking the top two spots, Asia boasted four of the five cheapest cities - Karachi in Pakistan, Mumbai and New Delhi in India, and Kathmandu in Nepal.
"(Asia) plays host to countries with the most and the least expensive cost of living in the survey," The Economist said in a statement.
"Cities in Australia and New Zealand have seen dramatic falls of between 21 and 25 index points.
"Conversely a stronger yen now means that the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Osaka have become the most expensive cities in our survey.
"Asia is home to many of the least expensive cities in the world, supplying five of the ten cheapest locations in the survey, four of which hail from the Indian subcontinent."
The Economist magazine's cost of living survey shows Australian cities have become cheaper due to the battered Australian dollar, with Sydney dropping from 17th to 35th on its index of most expensive cities in the past six months.
Since September, Melbourne has fallen 15 places from 24 to 39, Brisbane from 35 to 57, while Adelaide plummeted to 72 after being listed at 48 in the last survey.
Auckland fell almost 30 places, from 49 to 78, while Wellington dropped 25 spots from 55 to 80.
A stronger yen saw Tokyo rise to top of the magazine's list of most expensive cities, knocking off Oslo in Norway, which fell to number five.
Osaka in Japan was listed at number two, Paris third, while Copenhagen in Denmark was fourth.
Apart from taking the top two spots, Asia boasted four of the five cheapest cities - Karachi in Pakistan, Mumbai and New Delhi in India, and Kathmandu in Nepal.
"(Asia) plays host to countries with the most and the least expensive cost of living in the survey," The Economist said in a statement.
"Cities in Australia and New Zealand have seen dramatic falls of between 21 and 25 index points.
"Conversely a stronger yen now means that the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Osaka have become the most expensive cities in our survey.
"Asia is home to many of the least expensive cities in the world, supplying five of the ten cheapest locations in the survey, four of which hail from the Indian subcontinent."
Come over to Asia!
SYDNEY, Mar 09, 2009 (AsiaPulse via COMTEX) -- With the falling Australian dollar, the cost of living has plummeted across the country, but the most expensive city in the world is now in Asia, a survey has found.
The Economist magazine's cost of living survey shows Australian cities have become cheaper due to the battered Australian dollar, with Sydney dropping from 17th to 35th on its index of most expensive cities in the past six months.
Since September, Melbourne has fallen 15 places from 24 to 39, Brisbane from 35 to 57, while Adelaide plummeted to 72 after being listed at 48 in the last survey.
Auckland fell almost 30 places, from 49 to 78, while Wellington dropped 25 spots from 55 to 80.
A stronger yen saw Tokyo rise to top of the magazine's list of most expensive cities, knocking off Oslo in Norway, which fell to number five.
Osaka in Japan was listed at number two, Paris third, while Copenhagen in Denmark was fourth.
Apart from taking the top two spots, Asia boasted four of the five cheapest cities - Karachi in Pakistan, Mumbai and New Delhi in India, and Kathmandu in Nepal.
"(Asia) plays host to countries with the most and the least expensive cost of living in the survey," The Economist said in a statement.
"Cities in Australia and New Zealand have seen dramatic falls of between 21 and 25 index points.
"Conversely a stronger yen now means that the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Osaka have become the most expensive cities in our survey.
"Asia is home to many of the least expensive cities in the world, supplying five of the ten cheapest locations in the survey, four of which hail from the Indian subcontinent."
The Economist magazine's cost of living survey shows Australian cities have become cheaper due to the battered Australian dollar, with Sydney dropping from 17th to 35th on its index of most expensive cities in the past six months.
Since September, Melbourne has fallen 15 places from 24 to 39, Brisbane from 35 to 57, while Adelaide plummeted to 72 after being listed at 48 in the last survey.
Auckland fell almost 30 places, from 49 to 78, while Wellington dropped 25 spots from 55 to 80.
A stronger yen saw Tokyo rise to top of the magazine's list of most expensive cities, knocking off Oslo in Norway, which fell to number five.
Osaka in Japan was listed at number two, Paris third, while Copenhagen in Denmark was fourth.
Apart from taking the top two spots, Asia boasted four of the five cheapest cities - Karachi in Pakistan, Mumbai and New Delhi in India, and Kathmandu in Nepal.
"(Asia) plays host to countries with the most and the least expensive cost of living in the survey," The Economist said in a statement.
"Cities in Australia and New Zealand have seen dramatic falls of between 21 and 25 index points.
"Conversely a stronger yen now means that the Japanese cities of Tokyo and Osaka have become the most expensive cities in our survey.
"Asia is home to many of the least expensive cities in the world, supplying five of the ten cheapest locations in the survey, four of which hail from the Indian subcontinent."
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
America will become an undeveloped nation
Fox Business: Gerald Celente Predicts Food Revolution in US Paul Joseph Watson
The man who predicted the 1987 stock market crash and the fall of the Soviet Union is now forecasting revolution in America, food riots and tax rebellions - all within four years, while cautioning that putting food on the table will be a more pressing concern than buying Christmas gifts by 2012.
Gerald Celente (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Celente), the CEO of Trends Research Institute, is renowned for his accuracy in predicting future world and economic events, which will send a chill down your spine considering what he told Fox News this week.
Celente says that by 2012 America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.
"We're going to see the end of the retail Christmas....we're going to see a fundamental shift take place....putting food on the table is going to be more important that putting gifts under the Christmas tree," said Celente, adding that the situation would be "worse than the great depression".
"America's going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for," said Celente, noting that people's refusal to acknowledge that America was even in a recession highlights how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis.
Celente, who successfully predicted the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis, the subprime mortgage collapse and the massive devaluation of the U.S. dollar, told UPI in November last year that the following year would be known as "The Panic of 2008," adding that "giants (would) tumble to their deaths," which is exactly what we have witnessed with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and others. He also said that the dollar would eventually be devalued by as much as 90 percent.
The consequence of what we have seen unfold this year would lead to a lowering in living standards, Celente predicted a year ago, which is also being borne out by plummeting retail sales figures.
The prospect of revolution was a concept echoed by a British Ministry of Defense report last year, which predicted that within 30 years, the growing gap between the super rich and the middle class, along with an urban underclass threatening social order would mean, "The world's middle classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest," and that, "The middle classes could become a revolutionary class."
In a separate recent interview, Celente went further on the subject of revolution in America.
"There will be a revolution in this country," he said. "It's not going to come yet, but it's going to come down the line and we're going to see a third party and this was the catalyst for it: the takeover of Washington, D.C., in broad daylight by Wall Street in this bloodless coup. And it will happen as conditions continue to worsen."
"The first thing to do is organize with tax revolts. That's going to be the big one because people can't afford to pay more school tax, property tax, any kind of tax. You're going to start seeing those kinds of protests start to develop."
"It's going to be very bleak. Very sad. And there is going to be a lot of homeless, the likes of which we have never seen before. Tent cities are already sprouting up around the country and we're going to see many more."
"We're going to start seeing huge areas of vacant real estate and squatters living in them as well. It's going to be a picture the likes of which Americans are not going to be used to. It's going to come as a shock and with it, there's going to be a lot of crime. And the crime is going to be a lot worse than it was before because in the last 1929 Depression, people's minds weren't wrecked on all these modern drugs - over-the-counter drugs, or crystal meth or whatever it might be. So, you have a huge underclass of very desperate people with their minds chemically blown beyond anybody's comprehension."
The man who predicted the 1987 stock market crash and the fall of the Soviet Union is now forecasting revolution in America, food riots and tax rebellions - all within four years, while cautioning that putting food on the table will be a more pressing concern than buying Christmas gifts by 2012.
Gerald Celente (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Celente), the CEO of Trends Research Institute, is renowned for his accuracy in predicting future world and economic events, which will send a chill down your spine considering what he told Fox News this week.
Celente says that by 2012 America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.
"We're going to see the end of the retail Christmas....we're going to see a fundamental shift take place....putting food on the table is going to be more important that putting gifts under the Christmas tree," said Celente, adding that the situation would be "worse than the great depression".
"America's going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for," said Celente, noting that people's refusal to acknowledge that America was even in a recession highlights how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis.
Celente, who successfully predicted the 1997 Asian Currency Crisis, the subprime mortgage collapse and the massive devaluation of the U.S. dollar, told UPI in November last year that the following year would be known as "The Panic of 2008," adding that "giants (would) tumble to their deaths," which is exactly what we have witnessed with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and others. He also said that the dollar would eventually be devalued by as much as 90 percent.
The consequence of what we have seen unfold this year would lead to a lowering in living standards, Celente predicted a year ago, which is also being borne out by plummeting retail sales figures.
The prospect of revolution was a concept echoed by a British Ministry of Defense report last year, which predicted that within 30 years, the growing gap between the super rich and the middle class, along with an urban underclass threatening social order would mean, "The world's middle classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest," and that, "The middle classes could become a revolutionary class."
In a separate recent interview, Celente went further on the subject of revolution in America.
"There will be a revolution in this country," he said. "It's not going to come yet, but it's going to come down the line and we're going to see a third party and this was the catalyst for it: the takeover of Washington, D.C., in broad daylight by Wall Street in this bloodless coup. And it will happen as conditions continue to worsen."
"The first thing to do is organize with tax revolts. That's going to be the big one because people can't afford to pay more school tax, property tax, any kind of tax. You're going to start seeing those kinds of protests start to develop."
"It's going to be very bleak. Very sad. And there is going to be a lot of homeless, the likes of which we have never seen before. Tent cities are already sprouting up around the country and we're going to see many more."
"We're going to start seeing huge areas of vacant real estate and squatters living in them as well. It's going to be a picture the likes of which Americans are not going to be used to. It's going to come as a shock and with it, there's going to be a lot of crime. And the crime is going to be a lot worse than it was before because in the last 1929 Depression, people's minds weren't wrecked on all these modern drugs - over-the-counter drugs, or crystal meth or whatever it might be. So, you have a huge underclass of very desperate people with their minds chemically blown beyond anybody's comprehension."
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