Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong sketched out three major initiatives for MBMF in his Malay speech at the National Day Rally last Sunday. The proposed contribution revisions will have little or no impact on 80 per cent of those who earn $3,000 or less each month.Mosque building and upgrading programmes will take up some 42% or $5.4 million of annual MBMF contributions. 34% or $4.4 million will go towards expanding Mendaki programmes to strengthen Malay-Muslim families.The remaining 23% or $3 million will be used to upgrade full-time madrasah education, enhance part-time religious education and develop religious teachers and instructors.

GSK's new chief executive officer Andrew Witty wants to build on the company's long history with Singapore. Mr. Witty is keen to explore ways in which they can figure out next areas of collaboration. Manufacturing is a strong possibility; also they are looking to identify some technology platforms that they can help develop in Singapore which can then become new industries or new activities not just for GSK but for Singapore, as another platform.

Singapore's prime minister expect growth to be between 4 and 5 percent from 4-6 percent for the full-year growth. Manufacturing downed 5.2 percent in the second quarter from last year, service sector grow slightly slower than in the first quarter,while the financial services sector expanded 10.2 percent , the business services was up 7.5 percent ,and construction increased 17.4 percent.

Because of the softening of demand in the continent's biggest export markets, the United States and Europe, manufacturing is expected to slow down across Asia ,including Singapore. Singapore's manufacturing industry growth is expected to grow at a slower pace this year due to weaker demand from key export markets and a high oil price. The Singapore Institute of Purchasing & Materials Management said on Monday.

According to economists, the Singapore economy is expected to meet the government’s growth targets for the full year, despite a gloomy global outlook. However, among manufacturers, 87 per cent said the outlook for the next six months should be little over 5 per cent,which would be slightly above to 6.6 per cent.

"An easing of tension over Iran rather than a change in supply and demand is the main factor pushing oil prices lower," OPEC President Chakib Khelil stated on Saturday. Mr Khelil added in brief remarks that the price of the U.S. dollar is going down and that had also helped push oil prices lower. In conclusion, without both issues, oil should be trading much lower at between about US$70 and US$80 a barrel.

The US dollar is still overvalued despite a prolonged slide against the Euro and the British pound, but the misalignment is now almost entirely with Asia. According to the report by the institute's experts William Cline and John Williamson, the Singapore dollar was the biggest undervaluations and also the Chinese renminbi (yuan), the Malaysian ringgit, the New Taiwan dollar, and the Japanese yen.

The Ministry of Health plans to start up a national electronic health record system and have it running by 2010. With this new system, patients will be able to easily move between different clinics, hospitals, and doctors. No matter where patients seek treatment, their doctors will have access to past files, treatments, test results, and other information that will aid in the efficiency and accuracy of treatment and diagnoses.

The price of rice entering Singapore is predicted to fall in the coming months, claims importers. Importers also believe this will provide some relief for consumers hurt by record-high prices. This price decrease will likely be due to a recent surge in supply mainly from an “expected bumper crop from Thailand.” Though there is much hope for a decrease in prices, analysts find it quite unlikely that low September prices to come will match the lows of September last year.

Asian countries need assistance building cities that can handle the region's "unprecedented" expansion over the next two decades, according to the Asian Development Bank. About 1.1 billion people will move to urban environments over the next 20 years, and half of the population of Asia will be living in cities by 2020. By 2015, more than half of global greenhouse gas emissions will come from Asian cities.