SINGAPORE (Sept 20): It wasn’t long after The Edge Singapore was launched that I began measuring time not in days or months but in terms of the publication’s issue numbers, a consequence of constantly thinking about stories and commentaries that were to run in upcoming issues. Whenever people asked how long I had worked for this newspaper, I would simply tell them how many issues had been published since we began, and leave it to them to work it out.
As this is our 900th issue, and the last issue to which I will contribute as an employee, I did the math myself for once: It has been almost 18 years since I joined The Edge Singapore and stumbled into an exciting and hugely satisfying career in business and financial journalism.
Now, looking back on our reporting, it is remarkable to me how much things have changed. When our first issue rolled off the presses in March 2002, Singapore’s skyline did not yet include the iconic Marina Bay Sands integrated resort and Marina Bay Financial Centre. Good Class Bungalows could be purchased for as little as $5 million. The city state’s public transport system had an unblemished reputation. And, “foreign talent” was not the pejorative term it has become.
