Back From Nanjing Again

I have just returned from another trip to China (Nanjing) / HK.

You may recall my mentioning of this TODAY's article in my posting "External Drivers - Watching China in 2011" last year-end about monitoring the "external drivers". I have been doing that despite paying attention to the recent Euro-zone developemnts while paying particular attention to the China economy due to certain developments. Two quarters have passed since my previous retreat to Nanjing in Nov 2010.

I mentioned before that sometimes I find China more "democratic" than Singapore. In the words of an expat journalist who has covered China for many years, "China is a land where nothing is allowed, but everything is possible". I will soon be writing more about my thoughts on this recent trip.

China's Political Scene

Before my trip, I was watching the kick-start of our own Presidential Election race (PE 2011). It is now quite clear that the race would be a 3-cornered fight amongst the 3 TANs, with Tony Tan clearly "endorsed" as the pro-PAP candidate, despite his own expressed intention of running as an independent candidate. It is interesting that I know one of these 3 PE candidates personally.

I would be writing more about the PE 2011 race and also my own observation of the likely direction of the Singapore property market. As usual, I hope to present both topics to readers in a very different perspective.