Development Blogs.com

from the Electric New Paper Singapore This article explores if microcredit could work in Singapore. A conference is happening there now to introduce the country to the idea. - KaleIT has scored some stunning successes in developing countries such as Bangladesh, China and Indonesia. Microcredit, which gives small loans to the poor, has helped them and the illiterate escape the poverty cycle. It gives them much-needed access to credit to set up their own businesses.The Asia-Pacific Regional Microcredit Summit ends today.Can microcredit work in first-world Singapore?How microcredit worksMICROCREDIT, also called poverty lending, provides small loans to the very poor.These loans can start from as little as US$20 ($27) to US$100 for first-time borrowers, and are usually used to start small...

from The Straits Times By Cheong Suk-WaiSINGAPORE is a global business centre with room for 'social business', says Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.'Social business is not charity... It's better to teach a man how to fish that to give him fish,' said the Bangladeshi economist and founder of micro-credit, who called on not-for-profit businesses and programmes to generate jobs and other opportunities to help those trapped in poverty.'The business proposition is for the poor to pay a tiny amount of money for you to take care of their needs,' Professor Muhammad Yanus told The Straits Times here on Friday.'You can, for example, bring health insurance to the poor, who pay a little bit every year for it. And I know if Singaporean people design it, it will be world-standard quality because you have...

from Little Speck An aged husband pushing his wheel-chaired wife 3km to meet an MP. By aidil.Aug 25, 2007A Meet-the-people's session (MPS) on Aug 1 was perhaps the saddest one I have attended thus far.Sure, I have come across people who are stateless and seeking citizenship, HIV-positive persons, persons in really bad financial state and so on, but the special case that came before me today broke my heart.This is a story of an elderly Malay couple alone in this world.My heart raced as I had to interview the elderly Malay couple who looked like beggars, scruffy and tired. The wife, 69 years old, was plump and wheelchair-bound. The husband, 75 years old, was pudgy, walked with a limp due to arthritis and wore loosely fitted shoes.They live in a fully paid 3-room flat, which they bought...

from Radio Singapore InternationalCan we eradicate poverty within our lifetime?According to Michael Switow, President of One Singapore, we definitely can.MS: Yes, that is it. We will see it in our life time. That is what we believe. We’re about eradicating extreme poverty within one generation. Other generations have had their struggles like slavery, apartheid; our generation has what we see as poverty. We have the means to end poverty if we have fair trade rules, if we have more and better overseas assistance, if we fight corruption in countries where it exists, if we had more transparency and fewer regulations, if we encourage entrepreneurship, these things which Singapore has done very well. Let’s implement these things globally and we can make poverty history in our life time. And...

Grant Family Access and Information Singapore opposition leader Dr. Chee Soon Juan is being arbitrarily detained for exercising his right to free expression and should be immediately and unconditionally released, Human Rights Watch said today. In the meantime, Chee should be transferred from the prison ward in Singapore’s Changi General Hospital to the hospital’s regular in-patient facilities to ensure he receives appropriate medical care and is released home to complete his recuperation....

Report Spotlights Violence and Slavelike Conditions in 12 Countries Domestic workers face a wide range of grave abuses and labor exploitation, including physical and sexual abuse, forced confinement, non-payment of wages, denial of food and health care and excessive working hours with no rest days, Human Rights Watch said in a new report today....

No Weekly Rest Days or Caps on Huge Fees Singapore’s new standard contract for migrant domestic workers perpetuates discriminatory treatment and their exclusion from basic protections, Human Rights Watch said today. The contract clarifies service charges and refund policies for employers, but does not guarantee a weekly day off for workers or cap excessive recruitment fees....

The new and updated edition of the Digital Review of Asia Pacific contains authoritative reports on how 29 economies/countries are using ICT in business, government and civil society written by senior authors who live and work in the region. Included are three subregional chapters on the Pacific Island States, ASEAN and APEC....

Completed productions of "Think Positive: The Asian Face of HIV/AIDS" are available for exchange between the participating broadcasters as well as being made available rights-free to all Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) members and other broadcasters....