“We have kept the HDB residents in place, so we are sharing the growth of the city with the people who are of that class who built the city. We could have maximised the value by selling it off, and then a condo would have been built. But we didn’t do that.”

- Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew on the launch of the Pinnacle@Duxton, a 50-storey high public housing project in the city.

“I am convinced that while it is no fun to be poor, in Singapore we will give a reasonable social safety net which gives you dignity and your children hope for the future.”

- Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports on the continued efforts to improve social security; MCYS spent about $245m to help the needy in the 2009 financial year, compared to $165m in the previous year.

In the area of traditional music, there has been a tremendous surge in research, study and performance in various parts of the world, coupled with renewed vigour and enthusiasm for reform in ethnomusicology … The traditional arts must never be seen as a step backwards. The “zero-sum” mentality that globalisation has seemingly stamped on cultural development can be easily converted into cultural dialogue and new cultural growth by the traditional Asian concepts of respect and inclusiveness.

- Joe Peters, Liaison Officer (Singapore) at UNESCO’s International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM), welcoming plans by the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts to pay special attention to traditional art forms such as Chinese ink painting and Indian dance.

While the commission begins as an intergovernmental body and will not have teeth, it will have a certain moral authority to raise issues and this itself is helpful … If countries are in breach, we can say: ‘Look, you agreed to these things in the Charter, it’s on this basis that we have become a community. Can we please show some respect for what we’ve agreed to?’ So it allows us to put moral pressure on countries that fall short.

- Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo on the impact of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights.

“The new 60 is the old 50 … We’re living longer, people are much healthier, they have the faculties if they want to work; they bring a lot of value to the organisation.”

- Harish Nim, chief executive of IT firm Emerico, commenting on the Employment Assistant Payment (EAP), a proposed one-off payment for older workers that companies do not re-hire beyond the retirement age of 62. The EAP is likely to form part of legislation that will make it mandatory for companies to offer re-employment after the retirement age.

We have succeeded so far because we have been liberal on talent inflow. To continue to succeed, we need to continue with that policy. Businesses invest in Singapore because they know that they will be able to bring in the talent they need. The financial services sector employs several thousands of Singaporeans. It also employs many foreigners. If we told the banks that they cannot bring in foreign employees then we put the jobs of Singaporeans at risk as well.

- Law Minister K Shanmugam on the contribution of foreign talent to Singapore.

The law of defamation is really about balancing the value of free speech and the value of reputation in a democratic society. How this balance is to be struck depends on the political, social and cultural values of each society as reflected in its laws. These values differ from society to society and at different times of their development.

- Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong during his keynote address at the seasonal meeting of the New York State Bar Association International Section in Singapore on the “much misunderstood” subject of defamation and free speech.

For those who follow the ‘Singapore is my country’ route, the identity, perks, and obligations of citizenship are vital. For those who consider Singapore primarily as a city, the freedom to leave, to move on, to see this as one place on a global cosmopolitan continuum, will prevail, whatever passport one carries … We should never forget that Singapore as a city and a country is an anomaly.

- Sociologist Dr Sharon Siddique, commenting on the Government’s moves to ‘calibrate the differences’ between citizens and permanent residents.

The START-UP Crib Sheet

Want to start a business or a charity, stage a play or learn from those that have?

These sites offer access to funds, training, advice and other tidbits for that leg-up in the start-up game.

Funding schemes for all

Your starting point is www.business.gov.sg for funds and information across industries.

Looking to upgrade your business or gain access to some seed funding? www.spring.gov.sg offers both, and more.

The arts and media

For a comprehensive list of arts funds, hit www.mda.gov.sg.

www.nac.gov.sg offers grants for artists and arts organisations.

Find competitions, awards and other resources at www.designsingapore.org.

Social enterprise

Combine social work and business with the ComCare Enterprise Fund from www.mcys.gov.sg.

Business on the web

Web start-ups need look no further than www.garag3.com.

Training, education and support

Looking for advice, a community or inspiration from those who have been there? Get connected at these sites:
www.socialinnovationpark.org
www.socialinnovatorsforum.org
www.nus.edu.sg/start-up
www.nanzchongkomo.com
www.ace.sg
www.e27.sg