Asian Culture, Lifestyle and Entertainment
There are one million industrial robots around the world (as of Dec 2008), and Japan has the highest density with 295 robots for every 10,000 manufacturing workers.
Singapore and Korea are second and third respectively on the chart, but significantly behind Japan in numbers. Illustration by Mike Vella, more on IEEE.
Singapore tops the Asian ranking in The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009 conducted by the World Economic Forum (and partners) using both publicly available data and the Executive Opinion Survey.
The annual report assesses the ability of countries to provide high levels of prosperity to their citizens, which in turn depends on how productively a country uses available resources. Thus, the index measures the set of institutions, policies, and factors that set the sustainable current and medium-term levels of economic prosperity.
The top 10 overall ranking are USA, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Singapore, Finland, Germany, Japan and Canada.
The top 10 Asian economic entities are Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, China and UAE.
Some random news about Beijing 2008 Olympics…
The power of love
Matthias Steiner of Germany was the men’s +105kg weightlifting champion on Tuesday. When I first saw the picture, I thought of how romantic this guy was… I only knew a day later that the woman in the picture was his wife Susann, who died in a car accident last year, and it sparked plenty of emotions…
This will probably be the most memorable Beijing Olympics’ photo for me… it draws love, sadness, romance, pride, commitment and loyalty. If I am a woman I would probably fall in love with this guy.
A sushi wedding cake, some hot chillies, a few bulls running, a knighted penguin and a crime fighting turtle…
Sushi wedding cake
Thousands of German policewomen will receive what media have labelled “bullet-proof bras”. The bras are not actually bullet-proof, but are meant to better protect policewomen who wear bullet-proof vest.
There was a slight safety risk for women wearing normal bras with metal parts underneath a bullet-proof vest. If the vest is hit by a projectile, this can have an impact on the metal bit in the bra underneath and cause injuries.
The bullet-proof bras are made of white cotton and featuring the word “Polizei” (Police) along the seam, with no metal parts and look like sports bras. [Reuters]
Another day to go before the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics. Some random news and information about Olympics and happenings in Beijing…
The game has started
The women’s soccer tournament of the Beijing Olympics kicked off at 17:00 Beijing time on Wednesday, two days before the opening ceremony. It’s common for soccer (and some other team sports) to start the games earlier.
Singapore has imposed the circuit breaker measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 since early April. They announced an extension (until June 1) and some new rules a … [Read More...] about Singapore queued for last bubble tea before tightened lockdown
A cute photo series amidst the Covid-19 lockdown in Malaysia. Armed forces are present to assist the police to enforce the Movement Control Order (MCO) across the … [Read More...] about An Officer and a Gentle Cat
