Kindly Yours

 Singapore is so urbanised and densely populated, much more than the popularly identified current Blue Zones of age longevity - Ikaria on Greece; Loma Linda in California; Nicoya in Costa Rica; Ogliastra in Italian Sardinia and Okinawa, south of the main Japanese islands. Yet Singapore has attained number 5 in the world rankings for age longevity. I reckon each of the so called Blue Zones has unique characteristics that contribute to humans living longer than most.  Strong family relationships give inner joy. However, we cannot choose our relatives and how they behave - good or not so good - is not our personal responsibility.  Overseas migration has destroyed the safety of having family nearby. So the saying is true that having a good neighbour or friend is more important when family is living so far away.  Most of the Blue Zones see its people having their share of restorative hours of night time sleep and afternoon naps.  In Singapore, most residents do not d...

  We may no longer require human beings or robots to read the news in broadcasts or telecasts.  Who still allocates a time slot, predetermined by others, to listen or watch what we can read ourselves, at our own leisure on other more accessible mediums? Instead of focusing on sharing common joy and values, our instant gratification electronic wifi controlled social media can simmer and dwell in arguments, self centred opinions and assertive pushing of agendas. The contemporary world is bristling with content in the virtual communication universe.   There is freedom to embrace, reject or ignore the views and impressions presented.   Yet, mutual understanding, compromise, tolerance and cooperation can be so much less between different cultures, societies and religions. The human being can overtax its capability and capacity in use of ears and eyes.  Transactions can be executed without leaving a seated position.  There can be blurred lines betwee...

 Street food, with whatever label you call it, is the core of cultural dynamics you encounter in any society.  They are what is daily eaten and drunk by the populace, mostly without any pretension or hype, tending to true sentiments of a lifestyle not tainted by high margins, expensive rents and temporary fads.  Inflation has spiked - and street food preparation, labour supply, venue rentals and pricing have all been shaken to the core.  Even the record, of rather stabilised prices of hawker food in the sanitised food courts of the Republic of Singapore, has been affected.  Access to ethnically diverse food in major cities of Australia and New Zealand have put us pause in our tracks with smaller sized servings and price hikes averaging 25 per cent.  Culinary history follows the path of socio-economic evolution in the community.  Increased mobility, facilitated by better technology and higher standards of living, encourages experimentation, cross cultur...

  What is still happening to the energy supply market across Australia? 1.  Huge  multinational energy corporates pay less in wholesale prices for gas and electricity resources from Australia, than retail consumers do within the nation - partly due locked in long term contracts allowed. 2.   Aging coal plants that are due to close soon are symbolic of socio- political issues in regions that have prospered in the past but now struggle economically to face a changing future. 3.    Renewable energy sources are not enough at this stage to replace coal  and traditional ones in sustaining supply to an inceeased population. 4.  The energy market in Australia has been totally outsourced by the Canberra Federal government to so called free market players in the form of only a handful of wholesalers like Aus Grid and Endeavour Energy - allocation has been made for monopoly by geographical areas. Only the Western Australian state government ha...