China Must Adjust Model to Succeed

Beijing frets that the global economic slump is exacerbating unemployment. So it is. But the main culprit for the lack of jobs is China’s own development model.

Andy Xie said China Market may down another 25%

The Shanghai Composite Index, the world’s worst performer in August, may fall another 25 percent as China’s economic recovery isn’t “sustainable,” former Morgan Stanley Asian economist Andy Xie said.

Chinese factories face surprising labour shortage

Demand picking up, but rural workers worried after earlier mass layoffs

Taiwan’s former first lady sentenced on perjury charges

A Taiwan court on Tuesday sentenced the wife of ex-president Chen Shui-bian to a year in jail for perjury, as it passed the first convictions in an unprecedented case against the former first family.

Chinese Spend, Spend, Spend in London Luxury Shops

Gloom-defying shoppers from China are flocking to the luxury stores of London’s West End, outspending Arab royalty, replacing Russia’s departing super-rich and lifting spirits after nine months of recession.

Man in high-heel attack a top property agent

A man caught on video being hit in the private parts by his girlfriend with her high-heel shoe, is a director of an international property company.

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Investors who trusted the ‘experts’ end up losing out

More evidence of pitfalls of acting on “expert” advice in buying stocks. Anyone who did what Wall Street analysts advised last March, it appears, has only losses after the biggest stock market rally in seven decades.

Market rebound tests the faith of Dr. Doom’s disciples

Academic Nouriel Roubini has a mixed track record

Chinese Real Estate Enters a Twilight Zone

China’s real estate market is entering a biding time after this year’s surge. A large number of developers are still purchasing land and arranging finance, preparing for a new round of increases, but prices could also fall depending on the government’s credit policy.

Drink driving crackdown changes lifestyle, business in China

Drink or drive? This is a dilemma for many Chinese in a society soaked in a centuries-old drinking culture which is now travelling in private motor cars.

Sorry, no English

Service staff from China have been the target of complaints for their poor command of English. The Sunday Times spoke to 15 and found that most had basic training in English before coming here. But they have problems understanding the way Singaporeans speak English. Some are taking language courses to brush up on their fluency.

What's the big deal about Singlish, filled with broken English punctuated with Malay and spoken in wrong intonation/pronounciation? Why look down on non Singlish speaking people? My grand father didn't know a word of English and yet he helped to build what Singapore is today by employing Singlish speaking Singaporeans! Those disgusting people (fake ang moh) who complained are just trying to copy and pretend they are on the same level as the elitists men in white.

Dalai Lama trip puts Ma on spot

Ma Ying-jeou faces one of the toughest decisions of his presidency after the pro-independence camp invited the Dalai Lama to visit Taiwan to comfort typhoon victims.

Gambling ‘whale’ says US$110m casino debts are really loans

A Japanese-American gambler who lost more than US$110 million in Las Vegas casinos is waging a Nevada court battle, the outcome of which could affect Hong Kong legal judgments against such high-rollers.

Apple in hot water in France

Half a dozen new cases of ‘exploding iPhones’ emerged in France on Wednesday, asApple faced an official inquiry and calls to come clean over possible risks linked to its wildly popular smartphone.

The Sky Has Fallen, So What Comes Next?

It was silly months ago to compare the global downturn to the 1930s depression. The recession has already turned the corner.

Boom and burst - Andy Xie

Don’t be fooled by false signs of economic recovery. It’s just the lull before the storm

A stock market bubble is a negative-sum game. It leads to distortion in resource allocation and, hence, net losses. The redistribution of the remainder, moreover, isn’t entirely random. The government, of course, always wins. It pockets stamp duty revenue and the proceeds of initial public offerings of state-owned enterprises in cash. And, the listed companies seldom pay dividends.

Appliance king defied the odds until stakes got too high

Rags-to-riches Gome billionaire profited from ‘grey areas’

Gome boss names names and stays in the game

Wong Kwong-yu, the billionaire businessman whose detention nine months ago triggered Guangdong’s biggest corruption scandal in years, may be languishing in police custody but his nine-month detention has not curbed his wheeling and dealing.

Free to make a killing

Camps to treat mainland Web addicts have sprung up, unregulated, with deadly results

Is the market always right?

Put differently, it’s best not to place too much faith in the dictum that the market is always right because sometimes, it isn’t.