Education and the UAE

The International Enterprise Singapore, a quasi-government body, is organising a trade mission for education providers from Singapore to visit Dubai and Abu Dhabi from 4 February 2007 to 8 February 2007. During this mission, mission delegates will get to meet government officials involved in education in the UAE as well as visit some of the educational institutions in these 2 emirates.

I am of the view that there is tremendous potential in this industry, what with the private schools increasing their fees by at least 50% for the new academic year. While I hated some aspects of the Singaporean education system while I was in school (too much emphasis on exams, too little emphasis on projects and creativity), the system has played an important role in the one and only resource that Singapore has ever had - human resource. Any country that is looking to strengthen the skills and knowledge of its population ought to take a look at the education system of Singapore and adopt the finer points of the system.

Interested parties should contact the IE Singapore to participate in this trade mission. If you are an education provider in the UAE and you are looking to collaborate on or provide some educational or corporate training programs, I would encourage you to meet the mission delegates to explore the possibilities of a joint venture or a consultation.

iPhone ... Would You Want One?

The moment that all Apple fans have been waiting for ... first, the iPod, and now, the iPhone - the totally quinessential mobile phone, web device, portable music player, portable media device with a touch screen running on Mac OS X. The penultimate wet dream of all Apple fans!!

The question is then, "Would you want one?" Yes I do, but not now, and not when they've just launched it. IMHO, any new product will have bugs, and sometimes, nasty ones, that will surface and bite you real hard in the backside. Until and unless these bugs have been resolved, all you get are bragging rights, and agony that you face when you encounter the bugs.

Having said that, Apple has once again outdone itself with the design and the interface on the iPhone. We now to have see how it will survive in the real user environment.

Can you say ... SCUBA?

YES!!! PADI Certified Open Water Divers! Yup, both me and my wife. After spending 3 days in the cold pool water, rainy weather, choppy seas, puking on the boat, puking in the sea, having the world spin around you when you're on terra firma, bitten by mosquitoes, cut by coral, bruised by oxygen tanks, gulping endless amounts of sea water, getting stung by salt in your eyes and having the nose cavity in your scuba mask filled with mucus, we finally got our certification, and YES, it was well worth it, and WE WILL DO IT AGAIN! Thanks to Rich and Bive, our instructors from Ban's Diving Resort on Koh Tao in Thailand.