The SPM exam 2008 kicks off today with a total of 442,936 students sitting down for the key examination in close to 4,000 exam centers nationwide.

The exam will finish with its final paper on 5 December 2008, about 3 weeks from now.

More than 80% of the candidates are under the ministry’s public schools, while the rest is comprised of sponsored and private candidates.

All SPM candidates are advised to check their calendar regularly to avoid any mistake in determining their next exam paper. They are also reminded to check the news regularly to find if there is any changes or latest updates on the timetable, in case of emergency such as fire, flood and so on.

In the recent run, there have been an allegation that some of the papers were leaked, but the Education Ministry has come forward denying the allegation.

The result of this year’s SPM examination will be announced during the first quarter of 2009, usually made in March.

Singapore, the wealthiest country in South East Asia, has officially slumped into a technical recession, making it the first country in Asia to be hit by recession.

The biggest blame was put on the continued falling demand of its export products from the US and the Europe, mainly the consumer electronics and high tech manufacturing products.

Manufacturing and export are two of Singapore’s key economy drivers, and accounts for more than a quarter of the country’s GDP.  Its once thriving pharmaceutical industry is also not looking good, becoming one of the mostly hit casualties in the decline of the manufacturing business. Analysts are expecting an exodus of job cuts and layoffs, with foreign workers to become the first batch of victims.

With the weakening of the US, European and Japanese economies continue, the future does not look too good.

Last month, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (the central bank) announced a financial deregulation plan, which, among others, allows more foreign banks to open up their operation in the country. This has immediately put Singapore’s 5 major banks at risk as there are now engaged with takeover and acquisition bids.

A technical recession refers to two continous quarters of negative GDP growth. Singapore’s GDP contracted by 5.7% in the second quarter, followed by another shrink of 6.3% in the third quarter.

The new employee’s EPF contribution rate of 8% in place of the regular 11% has drawn flaks and criticisms from many different quarters.

Cuepacs, FOMCA, Malaysian Employer’s Federation (MEF) and MTUC (Malaysian Trade Union Congress) have all issued strong statements against Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s announcement, indicating their concern on the employees’ pension welfare.

In the argument, the reduction should be given as a voluntary option, and not automatic or mandatory as it is being exercised. In the new implementation, unless members fill up Form KWSP 17A (AHL) to maintain their current contribution of 11%, this new rate will be applied automatically beginning of January 2009. The form can be obtained from any of the EPF branches, or downloaded from EPF website from December onwards.

Cuepacs has some 40,000 members who are under EPF statutory and its President Omar Osman wants all of them to opt out of the move and maintain their contribution at 11%. As a rough calculation made for an average worker found out that the person only has between RM120,000 to RM160,000 upon retirement, a further 3% reduction will potentially be catastrophic for the pensioner.

The decision to reduce the EPF contribution rate was part of the government’s stimulus package for the economy and was announced on 4 November by the Deputy Prime Minister. The same move was made on 2001 and 2003, each done for a period of 1 year. With the latest cut, a worker will get a higher disposable income but will shrink his retirement fund by 3%.