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Two Economies, Different Remedies

IN CHINA

Some believe this government meddling will push growth rates down by 2020.

IN AMERICA

But they worry that some cures may cause new problems.

Like inflation. Or deflation.

Meanwhile, uncertainty reigns on Wall Street.

By PETER S. GOODMANThe experts have run through many of their prescriptions for an ailing economy. By MICHAEL WINESAs leaders stick to a top-down strategy that favors state-owned enterprises, fears grow that the nation’s economic miracle is in jeopardy.

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Put it away, boys!

features@mediacorp.com.sg

THE GUARDIAN

Once seen only on the dancefloor at weddings, suddenly the male cleavage is everywhere.

It’s all too much

Jess Cartner-Morley

NOT since the glory days of Eva Herzigova and the Wonderbra have we seen a display quite like this. At every turn, bare chests are being thrust into our consciousness.

They are there on stage at every music festival, and caught on camera by the paparazzi most nights outside fancy restaurants. They are tanned and oiled, puffed and paraded.

The difference this time is that the cleavage in question is male.

The images that have filled the slow news days of August have, for once, not been of female celebrities in their beachwear, but of their menfolk. Of their menfolk’s pectorals, to be precise.

I have tried, really I have, to look on the bright side and welcome this development as a step toward gender equality. But (a) is it not a little depressing that of everything women have contributed to civilisation, it is displaying your naked chest that men have picked up on?

And (b) well, just, eew. I can’t take it any more. Those photographs of Simon Cowell in his boxfresh white drawstring trousers and mirrored sunglasses, an overgrown Ken doll dressed unconvincingly for kung fu, were bad enough, but then Cowell has long famously struggled with the concept of where one’s waistband should sit, so it is only to be expected that he would misjudge how much chest to display.

No, the final straw came when Jude Law — the 11th best-dressed man in Britain, according to GQ magazine — took Sienna Miller out for dinner dressed in a V-neck sweater slashed as low as a wrestler’s vest. Gentlemen, please. Put it away.

Not long ago, sightings of the male cleavage were pretty much limited to the dancefloor at weddings, when late-night revellers would inexplicably feel the urge to undo several buttons on their best shirt. Anyone present was too drunk to notice, so no harm was done.

But a new breed of men’s T-shirts is scooped or slashed low enough at the front to make a full-frontal display of chest hair and musculature non-negotiable. In one generation, it seems, sober men have gone from wearing the top button of theirpyjamas done up to letting it all hang out.

It began innocently enough. A few years ago, in an attempt to find some middle ground between suited-and-booted and jeans-and-T-shirted, fashionable men began a trend for wearing a T-shirt under a suit jacket or blazer. It worked almost too well: A victim of its own success, it quickly went from being an early adopter identifier to being a common sight on a Saturday night at provincial bars.

And so it was that those who had kicked the look off — Law, Will Young and Russell Brand, among others — began to push the envelope a little more, to put a bit of space between themselves and the Burton-clad masses. They did this by replacing simple tops with faded tour Tshirts and then, when that, too, became a cliche, with the scoop-neck versions that began to be widely available in American Apparel, and later in Gap.

At the most recent menswear shows, the look was given the seal of approval by that venerable house of French chic, Hermes. The older generation of wearers has retained the jacket (so that Law now sometimes wears a jacket with a higher neckline than the T-shirt below, which looks really odd), but a younger breed of male peacocks around the world, Ronaldo Cristiano to Gossip Girl’s Ed Westwick, has dispensed with its services, all the better to flaunt their hours in the gym.

Can we hope that this trend will slip away? Personally, I’m more than a little nervous. The more extreme the fashion trend, the more extreme the counter trend tends to be, and if there’s one menswear trend I’m seriously allergic to it’s a man in a turtleneck.

What happened to the good old polo shirt, anyway? Hello, boys?

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Put it away, boys!

Once seen only on the dancefloor at weddings, suddenly the male cleavage is everywhere.

It’s all too much

Jess Cartner-Morley

features@mediacorp.com.sg

NOT since the glory days of Eva Herzigova and the Wonderbra have we seen a display quite like this. At every turn, bare chests are being thrust into our consciousness.

They are there on stage at every music festival, and caught on camera by the paparazzi most nights outside fancy restaurants. They are tanned and oiled, puffed and paraded.

The difference this time is that the cleavage in question is male.

The images that have filled the slow news days of August have, for once, not been of female celebrities in their beachwear, but of their menfolk. Of their menfolk’s pectorals, to be precise.

I have tried, really I have, to look on the bright side and welcome this development as a step toward gender equality. But (a) is it not a little depressing that of everything women have contributed to civilisation, it is displaying your naked chest that men have picked up on?

And (b) well, just, eew. I can’t take it any more. Those photographs of Simon Cowell in his boxfresh white drawstring trousers and mirrored sunglasses, an overgrown Ken doll dressed unconvincingly for kung fu, were bad enough, but then Cowell has long famously struggled with the concept of where one’s waistband should sit, so it is only to be expected that he would misjudge how much chest to display.

No, the final straw came when Jude Law — the 11th best-dressed man in Britain, according to

Not long ago, sightings of the male cleavage were pretty much limited to the dancefloor at weddings, when late-night revellers would inexplicably feel the urge to undo several buttons on their best shirt. Anyone present was too drunk to notice, so no harm was done.

But a new breed of men’s T-shirts is scooped or slashed low enough at the front to make a full-frontal display of chest hair and musculature non-negotiable. In one generation, it seems, sober men have gone from wearing the top button of theirpyjamas done up to letting it all hang out.

It began innocently enough. A few years ago, in an attempt to find some middle ground between suited-and-booted and jeans-and-T-shirted, fashionable men began a trend for wearing a T-shirt under a suit jacket or blazer. It worked almost too well: A victim of its own success, it quickly went from being an early adopter identifier to being a common sight on a Saturday night at provincial bars.

And so it was that those who had kicked the look off — Law, Will Young and Russell Brand, among others — began to push the envelope a little more, to put a bit of space between themselves and the Burton-clad masses. They did this by replacing simple tops with faded tour Tshirts and then, when that, too, became a cliche, with the scoop-neck versions that began to be widely available in American Apparel, and later in Gap.

At the most recent menswear shows, the look was given the seal of approval by that venerable house of French chic, Hermes. The older generation of wearers has retained the jacket (so that Law now sometimes wears a jacket with a higher neckline than the T-shirt below, which looks really odd), but a younger breed of male peacocks around the world, Ronaldo Cristiano to Gossip Girl’s Ed Westwick, has dispensed with its services, all the better to flaunt their hours in the gym.

Can we hope that this trend will slip away? Personally, I’m more than a little nervous. The more extreme the fashion trend, the more extreme the counter trend tends to be, and if there’s one menswear trend I’m seriously allergic to it’s a man in a turtleneck.

What happened to the good old polo shirt, anyway? Hello, boys?GQ magazine — took Sienna Miller out for dinner dressed in a V-neck sweater slashed as low as a wrestler’s vest. Gentlemen, please. Put it away.

THE GUARDIAN

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STB bullish about revenue for Formula 1

Singapore

This year, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) have projected a sum of $100 million, as they expect foreign visitors to flock back to the race.

Speaking to MediaCorp on Friday, Chew Tiong Heng, Director of Destination Marketing at STB, said: “About 40 per cent of the spectators this year will be foreign visitors.

The season has gained traction, people are expecting and hearing the very exciting lineup that we have about the season, so we think that we are already gaining a certain kind of reputation — to deliver an F1 experience that is quite unique to this part of the world.”

The two new integrated resorts will contribute to the buzz, but STB have also unveiled several attractions as part of their 2010 Singapore Grand Prix Season.

International recording artistes like Mariah Carey and Missy Elliott have been lined up and they will be supported by 400 other acts, costing a cool $5 million.

To rev up the entertainment factor, the Singapore Grand Prix Season will also feature a week-long period (Sept 17 to 26) of Formula 1-related events.

There will be art on display, various parties to attend and the Digital Nights@Orchard to visit — a showcase of new media and digital arts using 3D, mapping familiar sights along Orchard Road.

Another feature will be the Soundpark at ION Orchard, where the highlight will be a 13-metre long Soundbox, which replicates the sound of Formula 1 cars whizzing.— The 2008 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix generated more than $150 million in tourism receipts, but dipped to $93 million last year, due to the economic slowdown.

Patwant Singh

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STB bullish about revenue for Formula 1