from the ground Up

by Jessica Cheam, The Straits Times, April 15 2009
Annual HR Day to celebrate Singapore’s most important asset
NATURAL resource-poor Singapore yesterday celebrated its most important asset – people – by holding a Human Resources Day and unveiling a centre dedicated to HR training.
The city-state’s first Human Resources (HR) Day was launched by Minister for Manpower Gan [...]

by Jessica Cheam, The Straits Times, April 8 2009
CORPORATE social responsibility (CSR) appears to be taking hold among Asian businesses but the awareness level is still low, according to a recent survey.
The online poll conducted across the region by Hong Kong-based firm CSR Asia assessed how the role of CSR professionals changes from country to [...]

by Jessica Cheam, The Straits Times, Mar 28 2009
After astonishing growth, overall value of units plunges 60 per cent
SINGAPORE real estate investment trusts (Reits) are facing their worst crisis since they entered the market eight years ago and became wildly popular.
Property experts are confident Reits here, known collectively as S-Reits, will survive the global economic [...]

by Jessica Cheam, The Straits Times, Mar 20 2009
Directors told to keep an eye on weaknesses, inform shareholders promptly
AN INCREASE in the number of corporate scandals here prompted the Singapore Exchange (SGX) to issue a strongly worded heads-up to bosses last night.
The SGX told directors to stay alert, keep an eye on any areas of [...]

by Jessica Cheam, Mar 18 2009
Shipping giant failed to quash market rumours over rights issue: SGX
SHIPPING giant Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) has been rapped by the Singapore Exchange (SGX) after failing to make timely announcements to quash market rumours over a rights issue.
NOL had breached listing rules by failing to “sufficiently clarify or deny market [...]

by Jessica Cheam, The Straits Times, Mar 10 2009
CORPORATE social responsibility (CSR) is an essential ingredient of global business culture these days yet it struggles to gain a high profile here.
The problem is not so much that local firms do not promote CSR practices, but rather that Singapore lacks a reporting process so the movement [...]

Couple of weeks after I wrote my commentary on how Asia Needs its own Green New Deal, there have been encouraging reports out of North Asia, where Japan and Korea have announced their own versions of this green new deal (GND).

Am working on a story on whether Singapore could see its own GND in the short- to mid-term future…

So far the stats I’ve managed to pull-out show far smaller figures for Singapore: 3,800 green jobs in the last year or so.

Although I must say its economy is much smaller than the North Asian giants, and these are figures that have already been published, not including those that may be in the works.

Green jobs in Singapore:

Renewable Energy Corp: $6.3 billion plant, 3,000 jobs by 2010

Neste Oil: $1.18 billion plant, 100 jobs by 2010

Vestas Wind: $500 million plant, 300 jobs by 2012

Oerlikon Solar: $39 million R&D centre, 100 jobs

NorSun: $419 million plant, 300 jobs

From the UN’s news site:

Japan and the Republic of Korea Announce They Will Invest Billions of Dollars in Environmentally Smart Projects
Jan 11, 2009, 4:26pm

Japan and the Republic of Korea announcement that they will invest billions of dollars in environmentally smart projects to create jobs and spur economic growth is the latest sign that the Green New Deal advocated by the United Nations is gaining momentum, the head of the UN Environment Programme said on January 9, 2009.

UNEP s Global Green New Deal and Green Economy initiative are clearly two ideas whose time has come, as evidenced by the Republic of Korea and Japan s stimulus package announcements alongside those of other key economies and leaders from China to the President-elect of the United States, Executive Director Achim Steiner said.

UNEP launched the Global Green New Deal and Green Economy Initiative as an antidote to current economic woes and as a springboard to a low-carbon, low-impact, high-job and better-managed global economy.

Japan has announced that it aims to expand the green business market and create up to one million new jobs, through measures that include zero-interest rate loans for environmentally-friendly companies.

The Republic of Korea, meanwhile, will invest $38 billion over the next four years in a series of eco-friendly projects to create 960,000 new jobs and lay the groundwork for future economic growth.

The 36 projects include the creation of green transport networks, the provision of two million energy-saving homes and the clean-up of the country s four main rivers.

Investments in clean-tech and renewable energy; infrastructure such as railways and cycle tracks and nature-based services like river systems and forests, can not only counter recession and unemployment but can also set the stage for more sustainable economic recovery and growth in the 21st century, Mr. Steiner said.

by Jessica Cheam, The Straits Times, Jan 8 2009
NEWS of the billion-dollar scandal at software giant Satyam Computer Services sent shock waves through its Singapore offices and the Indian business community here yesterday.
Some Satyam staff seemed dumbfounded at what had unfolded at their blue chip company while Indian business leaders fear the fraud could damage [...]

So I was covering the news break of Satyam’s billion-dollar fraud and how its Singapore operations are affected, how employees are reacting etc… and that included a visit to the firm’s site at the Ultro Building at Changi Business Park.

[The company's latest televised statement by its interim CEO can be found here.]

Most of the reactions I got were suitably appropriate, involving shock, surprise, lament and regret. One particularly reaction I got, however, completely stupefied me. I had asked this woman whom I ambushed at the fifth floor toilet about how the latest news will affect employees, and she actually looked at me with disdain and said, and I quote word-for-word, “what’s the big deal? The market’s not that bad. Don’t think it will affect the company.”

I wonder if she reads the same news site as we do. Or perhaps she was reading some form of Onion News. Your company’s share price has fallen 80 per cent, your chairman and founder has resigned, your balance sheet has a US$1 billion gaping hole, and “the company will not be affected” ???

I was at a loss for words. I guess some people choose to remain in denial when the crisis hits hardest. I wonder how many more unscrupulous corporate deeds will get unearthed in this economic and credit crunch.

My guess is as good as yours.