S'pore emerges as most liveable Asian city in new Global Liveable Cities Index

Singapore has emerged as the most liveable Asian city in a new index. It was ranked third worldwide coming in behind Geneva and Zurich in the Global Liveable Cities Index.

Published by Singapore's Centre for Liveable Cities, the index looked at 64 cities including 36 from Asia.

When it comes to liveability, Singapore has been ranked up there with some of Europe's best cities.

In individual rankings, it came in first for domestic security and stability and third for good governance and leadership.

And it ranked 5th for economic vibrancy and quality of life.

Prestigious award for Southern Ridges Trail

In the citation, the jury - made up of real estate professionals, planners and architects - was especially impressed by how a rare recreational space was created in a densely populated city-state and how it has 'moved the concept of green links and neighbourhood parks to a new level'.

The URA will go on to compete at the global awards later this year.

Besides the Southern Ridges, condominium Newton Suites by the UOL Group was also selected as one of the winners from 35 entries.

The 118-unit eco-friendly tower has features like sun shading, rooftop plants, cross-ventilation and a green wall spanning the height of the building.

The URA is not new to the ULI Awards, having won the global award in 2006 for its conservation programme and the Asia-Pacific award in 2008 for its master planning of the Bras Basah and Bugis area.

Both Henderson Waves and Alexandra Arch have won architectural and engineering awards here and overseas.

Since its opening in May 2008, the Southern Ridges has drawn an additional 50,000 visitors a month.

S'pore property market 'third most transparent in Asia-Pacific'

SINGAPORE is ranked the third most transparent property market in Asia-Pacific, according to a key industry index.

The league table places Singapore at 16th worldwide, two spots ahead of Hong Kong but behind regional rivals Australia, ranked first, and New Zealand at fourth.

More transparent market conditions allow for quicker investment deals between one foreign investor and another, it said.

The index, which was started in 1999 and is updated every two years, covers all property sectors, though the bulk comprises commercial real estate.

It assessed 81 markets under five categories - performance measurement, market fundamentals, listed vehicles, legal and regulatory environment and the transaction process.

Jones Lang LaSalle's South-east Asia research head, Dr Chua Yang Liang, said the index showed that Singapore's strength lies in its regulatory and legal environment.

'The transparency of our regulatory framework supported the influx of US$4.7 billion (S$6.4 billion), which is more than half of the total dollar value investments, into the commercial asset market during the peak in 2007,' he said.

Scientists here crack bile duct cancer puzzle

SCIENTISTS here have discovered a genetic clue that could prevent the growth and spread of bile duct cancer.

Led by Professor Teh Bin Tean, the team from the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) and the Van Andel Research Institute (Vari) in the United States found the level of the enzyme MAPK13 (p38delta mitogen-activated protein kinase) is higher in cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer) than in other forms of liver cancer or in normal tissue.

It was also found that MAPK13 plays a role in allowing the tumour cells to move and invade normal organ tissues.

The discovery means the enzyme could complement the current biomarkers used to diagnose bile duct cancer.

'This is significant as it is now possible to deactivate the gene through treatment to slow down the cancerous growth,' Prof Teh, who is also the director of the NCCS-Vari team, told The Straits Times.

Bile duct cancer is particularly prevalent in South-east Asia, but cases of the disease are rising in the US, Britain and Australia.

The cancer strikes about 3,000 new patients each year here - the same number as in the US.

It is most commonly found in patients in their 60s and 70s, and the outcome of the disease is generally poor, with a five-year survival rate of less than 5 per cent.

The current treatment of the disease is surgery to remove the bile duct or the bile duct and part of the liver, but with most patients, the cancer is too advanced when diagnosed to operate.

'Understanding the genetics of bile duct cancer means a focused drug targeting it could be developed to improve the long-term survival rate of patients,' said Prof Teh, whose laboratory published its findings in the International Journal Of Cancer last month.

Singapore, HK least red tape in Asia: survey

Regional financial centres Singapore and Hong Kong have the most efficient bureaucracies, according to the survey of expatriate business executives by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) on Wednesday.

Government bureaucracies in some Asian countries have become "power centres" in their own right, allowing them to effectively resist efforts toward reforms by politicians and appointed officials, the Hong Kong-based firm said.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's failure to carry out reforms contributed to the resignation last month of respected finance minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who accepted a senior position at the World Bank, PERC said.

"Despite President Susilo's strong election mandate, he lacks the power to really shake up Indonesia's bureaucracy," the consultancy said.

Singapore was ranked has having the most efficient bureaucracy, with a score of 2.53, followed by Hong Kong with 3.49.

PERC said 1,373 middle and senior expatriate executives took part in the survey carried out earlier this year.

Singapore was also number one and Hong Kong was in third place globally in the World Bank's latest survey on the ease of doing business, which covered 183 economies.

Source: Channel NewsAsia

The Singapore success story

SINGAPORE is the best place in the world for a child to be born.

It has the lowest mortality rate - 2.5 per 1,000 births - for children under five years old in the world, according to the study published in the medical journal The Lancet. The study compared the mortality rates of children under five in 187 countries.

Figures for other developed countries like Britain and the United States stand at 5.3 and 6.7, respectively.

These figures stand in stark contrast to countries like Laos (68.3), China (15.4) and India (62.6).

Singapore has come a long way from 1960, when 34.9 babies in every 1,000 died before they were a year old. Singapore's success in sharply reducing the mortality rate in recent decades can be attributed to many factors.

A big plus has been the ability of the country to meet the basic needs of its population, which include good housing, clean water, proper sanitation services and other public health-care needs.

'Improved prenatal care, safe delivery practices and medical advancement are some of the immediate factors,' said Assistant Professor of Sociology Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan from the School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University.

Clinical Associate Professor Ong Hian Tat, a senior consultant at the University Children's Medical Institute, National University Hospital, mentioned breast-feeding and childhood screening programmes as factors in lowering the child mortality rate.

'Emphasis on the beneficial effects of breast-feeding has led to better nutrition provided for all the babies and infants.

'Nationwide childhood screening programmes have also allowed us to detect some of the childhood diseases early, resulting in better treatment outcomes,' he said.

Prof Bussarawan added that a decline in infant mortality rates was a good indicator of Singapore's socioeconomic development, access to health care and women's socioeconomic status.

And the focus on the less well-off has also paid off.

'Singapore is doing better than some other developed countries because we have our focus of giving optimal medical care to the less advantaged section of our population and we have quality and accessible subsidised perinatal and paediatric care,' said Associate Professor Tan Kok Hian.

He is the head of perinatal audit and epidemiology at KK Women's and Children's Hospital.

JANICE TAI (Straits Times)

Singapore No. 1 in Competitiveness

SINGAPORE has jumped ahead of Hong Kong and the United States to snatch the top spot in a closely watched global ranking of economic competitiveness.

The Republic edged ahead of its rivals to assume pole position for the first time in what the compiler of the annual rankings, Swiss business school IMD, is calling a photo finish.

The gap between the three in this latest assessment of the world's economies - which places Hong Kong second and the US third - is less than 1 per cent.

This year's rankings are an upset to what has become the traditional pecking order and mark the first time since 1994 that the US has failed to trounce the competition.

For most of the 1990s and early 2000s Singapore has ranked second, but in recent years it has alternated with Hong Kong for second and third place.

IMD said Singapore and Hong Kong 'displayed great resilience through the crisis... and are now taking full advantage of strong expansion in the surrounding Asian region'. It was particularly impressed with Singapore's 13 per cent growth in the first quarter of this year.

While 'it's a tango between Hong Kong and Singapore at the top' of the rankings, Singapore's ability to utilise its competitive advantages and improve on its weaknesses was what gave it the edge over Hong Kong this year, according to Ms Suzanne Rosselet-McCauley, deputy director of the IMD World Competitiveness Centre.