Champerty: An improvement in access to justice for the poor?

After reading the following article by Andy Ho, I believe that there is a place for champerty [legal dict.][Wikipedia] in Singapore... (I u'stand that this form of charging does not separate legal fees from damages sought: it is all just one lump sum and the lawyer takes cut of 1/3 of damages won) however, if this form of charging is used, then it must be clearly declared to the court before any hearing (along with the damages sought)- each side should also lay clear one's legal costs and the case proceed either by mutual agreement on legal costs (looser pays the bill)- or else get a government order that the case would be heard and the government determines the eventual award and if necessary-legal cost (fixed or by champerty to each party as the case may be).

GDP: An Imperfect Measure of Progress

GDP: An Imperfect Measure of Progress
By the Editors Jan 31, 2013 7:30 AM GMT+0800
Q
Which is better for a country’s well-being: $10 million spent constructing a jail, or $10 million spent producing a line of smartphones? How about clear- cutting rain forests to produce $10 million in lumber? Or a storm that requires $10 million in repairs?

Regulating tightly 'not always feasible'

News: The Straits Times - 8 October 2012
Regulating tightly 'not always feasible'
by Elgin Toh
THE desire to regulate banks more tightly in the aftermath of the global financial crisis is understandable but not always practicable, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said last night.

The dollars and sense of inflation

The dollars and sense of inflation
Source: The Straits Times© Singapore Press Holdings Limited.
Author: Aaron Low; 01Feb2012
IF THE latest report card on inflation in Singapore could be summed up in one word, it would simply be this: confusing.

The instability of inequality

The instability of inequality
Unless relative economic roles of the market and state are rebalanced, protests will get more severe
by Nouriel Roubini 04:46 AM Oct 17, 2011
This year has witnessed a global wave of social and political turmoil and instability, with masses of people pouring into the real and virtual streets: The Arab Spring; riots in London; Israel's middle-class protests against high housing prices and an inflationary squeeze on living standards; protesting Chilean students; the destruction in Germany of the expensive cars of "fat cats"; India's movement against corruption; mounting unhappiness with corruption and inequality in China; and now the "Occupy Wall Street" movement in New York and across the United States.

More people living in rental flats

More people living in rental flats
Trend due to widening income gap and growing number of lonely seniors
The Straits Times - August 21, 2011; By: Daryl Chin
More people living in rental flats
For the past 18 years, Mr Adam Teo's home has been a two-room rental flat in Toa Payoh, littered with books, toys and clothes.
Moreover, the 24-year-old is now his family's sole breadwinner, supporting his mother and two younger siblings.

Cheaper petrol can be a problem

HOME > ST FORUM > STORY
Apr 16, 2011
Cheaper petrol can be a problem
MANY people prefer to debate why petrol prices across the Causeway are cheaper rather than consider the implications of cheaper fuel ('Fuel competition' by Mr Lewis Goh; April 6).

A farmer's life deserves respect

A farmer's life deserves respect
04:46 AM Apr 04, 2011
Letter from Natalie Cheong
Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong has been quoted as saying of people in less-developed countries: "Because they don't know what life is, they're quite happy. They wake up, they brush their teeth, then they'll farm, and then they'll sleep. But do you want it that way?". What concerns me is the assumption that all farmers in less-developed countries do not understand what life is.

Need versus greed

Need versus greed
If greed dominates, economic growth will deplete the world's resources, driving us to a violent struggle for survival
05:55 AM Mar 05, 2011
by Jeffrey D Sachs
India's great moral leader Mohandas Gandhi famously said that there is enough on Earth for everybody's need but not enough for everybody's greed. Today, Gandhi's insight is being put to the test as never before.
The world is hitting global limits in its use of resources. We are feeling the shocks each day in catastrophic floods, droughts and storms - and in the resulting surge in prices in the marketplace. Our fate now depends on whether we cooperate or fall victim to self-defeating greed.

Ensure rest for injured workers

Feb 22, 2011
Ensure rest for injured workers
WE NOTE with concern Mr Tan Thian Huat's letter ("Injured workers get little time to recuperate"; Feb 14).
In the past few years, the Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics and Transient Workers Count Too have assisted numerous workers in similar, if not more dire, circumstances. We have encountered a worker who was given only two days of medical leave despite suffering fractures to his knees; he actually needed months of medical attention. Another was given the same after a part of his finger was sliced off.

Don't blame it all on workers

HOME > ST FORUM > STORY
Feb 21, 2011
LYING FOR WORK PASSES
Don't blame it all on workers
THE report ('More caught for lying in work pass applications'; Feb 11) does not present a complete picture of workers who have been convicted of declaring false information and submitting fake education certificates to obtain an SPass or an employment pass.

10/09: Countries with the Biggest Gaps Between Rich and Poor

Countries with the Biggest Gaps Between Rich and Poor
by Bruce Einhorn; (Friday, October 16, 2009)
The U.N. Development Program recently came out with a report looking, among other things, at income inequality worldwide.
We have listed the world's most advanced economies based on their Gini score, with zero marking absolute equality and 100 absolute inequality. Scandinavian countries, Japan, and the Czech Republic have the least amount of inequality. The U.S. is among the most unequal, but it's not No. 1. To see which economy is, read on.

Warming world not such a warm place ...

Warming world not such a warm place ...
05:55 AM Feb 08, 2011
by Paul Krugman
We're in the midst of a global food crisis - the second in three years. World food prices hit a record in January, driven by huge increases in the prices of wheat, corn, sugar and oils. These soaring prices have had only a modest effect on United States inflation, which is still low by historical standards, but they're having a brutal impact on the world's poor, who spend much if not most of their income on basic foodstuffs.

Peg aid for needy to inflation

Peg aid for needy to inflation
05:56 AM Feb 07, 2011
Letter from Leong Sze Hian
I would like to applaud the Prime Minister's recent statement that the Government is zeroing in on low-income households to ensure that they can cope with the rising cost of living.

African Huts Far From the Grid Glow With Renewable Power

December 24, 2010
African Huts Far From the Grid Glow With Renewable Power
Renewable energy at prices the world’s poorest can afford: By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
KIPTUSURI, Kenya — For Sara Ruto, the desperate yearning for electricity began last year with the purchase of her first cellphone, a lifeline for receiving small money transfers, contacting relatives in the city or checking chicken prices at the nearest market.

Aspiring to be middle class not the problem

The Straits Times; www.straitstimes.com; Published on Jan 27, 2011
Aspiring to be middle class not the problem
MR HO Kwon Ping's commentary ('The silent revolution in my backyard'; Jan 19) traces the emergence of the middle class, and Singapore's move 'to ideologically co-opt the working class into adopting middle-class lifestyles and mentalities' so as to broaden the base.