Editorial Indiscretions by the Straits Times

Somebody working at the Straits Times propanganda department has goofed up. The newspaper published two particular articles today, and it obviously shouldn't have, because one article contradicts the other.

The first article declares that the government has done a great job (and has the resources to do it), as far as making life better for Singaporeans is concerned. There is even the bold assertion that what the Singapore government has done, "very few" other countries in the world can do.

PM Lee: Not many can do Budget, S'pore styleSurpluses enable Govt to dish out goodies but economy must grow
By Elgin Toh & Rachel Chang

THE new Budget, with hongbao to help Singaporeans cope with the rising cost of living, took an approach that very few countries can, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday.

Calling it 'pro-growth' and 'prudent', he said it also reflected how the Government intended to make life better for Singaporeans.

That's a nice piece of positive propanganda for the government, and it's quite important because the elections are coming up. Unfortunately, the newspaper also published an article which exposes the deeper truth behind the "better lives" that Singaporeans supposedly enjoy.

ST Feb 21, 2011
Only 14% of S'poreans ready to retire, money wise: studyBy Linette Lin

ONE in three Singaporeans plans to retire/was already retired before he reached 60 years of age, two years earlier than the current statutory retirement age of 62 years old in Singapore, according to Nielsen's Global Aging Report.

However, only 14 per cent of the Singapore consumers surveyed admitted they are financially ready for retirement - the lowest when compared to the Asia Pacific (22 per cent) and global (18 per cent) averages.

..... More than 26,000 consumers in 53 countries throughout Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North America took part in Nielsen's Global Aging Report.

So here we see, from this international study, another powerful world record achieved by Singapore.

The percentage of Singapore residents who consider themselves financially ready for retirement is the lowest not only in the Asia-Pacific region, but the lowest in the world.

(More precisely, the lowest out of 53 countries covered in the study - but 53 countries is a large number of countries and a pretty good proxy for the whole world).

How come the Straits Times propaganda department goofed up so badly? This is a bad mistake. The second article should have been suppressed. PM Lee will probably be quite displeased.