I generally love SQ so I normally ignore the subtle micro aggressions but my flight yesterday felt like I was being pranked.

Flew from Sydney to Singapore and despite the extremely busy airport, the ground crew was amazing. I chose the aisle seat next and had a lovely Caucasian lady and her pre-teen daughter next to me. I started noticing immediately that the crew would initially ask questions only to the lady and move on (“Any drinks for you Ma'am?”) and I had to call them back for water.

The strange thing happened during the first meal time. They bought out the daughter's meal first and then the lady's standard chicken meal. I thought it makes sense because of special dietary requirements and family and all. Two hours passes and they're cleaning up and I politely remind the crew lady in my area that I never received a meal. She looked surprise and provides a hasty apology and says she'll look into it after clean up. Nothing happens. I'm starving and realised they forgot about me again when they start serving the refreshments (more than 6 hours into the flight). The lady notices and complains on my behalf as my stomach is actually growling now. A senior male crew member joins then and apologises profusely, mostly to her but also somewhat to me? Turned out that they ran out of most of the food option and asked if I was ok with a vegetarian meal. I said yes as I'm that hungry then. I never got the refreshment meal or an offer of that in the end.

While the missed meal part was the worst, throughout the whole flight, I think I never had more of a challenge to get service. I used the call button 4 times for water and got ignored. The lady had to order 3 water every time to make sure I actually stayed hydrated.

I fly with SQ about thrice a year and this was the first time the service was ever this bad. The funny thing is, all the crew members on this flight looked South Asian and I am of Indian descent so I'm not even sure if this is a whole “we can ignore her, she's one of us” thing. Either way, very unpleasant experience and not sure what to do with it.

internalised racism

Pinkerton Syndrome is a term for the perceived tendency of some Asians to regard Whites as superior or more desirable, especially for marriage or relationships.

The singaporean court and the media misgenders her by using he/him pronouns in court documents and in their reporting.

/r/singapore theead: https://old.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/18dfon9/man_charged_for_being_public_nuisance_after_he

Served coffee or tea = local slang for getting interviewed by the feds

• Singapore contributed around 15%, or US$2.7 billion, to the quarterly revenue of Nvidia, as revealed in the chipmaker's SEC filing for the quarter ending in October.

• In the third quarter, revenue from Singapore surged by 404.1%, exceeding Nvidia's overall revenue growth of 205.5% from the same period last year.

• Experts reckon it is likely due to the city state's volume of data centers and cloud service providers.

Over the last two decades, Singapore has made significant strides in solidifying its global data center hub position, capitalizing on its strategic location, robust fiber broadband connectivity, cloud services availability, and pro-business policies. Today, the city-state has formed a formidable digital infrastructure featuring 100 data centers, 1,195 cloud service providers, and 22 network fabrics. So it's unsurprising that Nvidia Corp. saw 15% of its revenue come from Singapore in the recently concluded third quarter.

According to a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Singapore played a significant role in the US chip giant's recent financial success, contributing US$2.7 billion of its US$18 billion revenue for the quarter ending October. The amount was a remarkable increase of 404.1% from the US$562 million recorded in the same quarter the previous year, surpassing Nvidia's overall revenue growth of 205.5% from a year ago.

The growth puts Singapore ahead of every country except the US (35%), Taiwan (24%), and China, including Hong Kong (22%), based on CNBC's observation. In the third quarter, 80% of Nvidia's sales, as disclosed in the SEC filing, originated from the data center segment. The remaining portion was attributed to gaming, professional visualization, automotive, and other sectors.

"Cloud service providers drove roughly half of data center revenue, while consumer internet companies and enterprises comprised approximately the other half," said Nvidia in the filing. That said, Singapore had its advantages, considering it is a global data center hub, hosting significant players including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, IBM Softlayer, and Google Cloud.

What's more, due to a robust network supported by 24 submarine cables, the country is also the landing site for a dense network of undersea cables, connecting it to other parts of Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, and the US. A quick check on the Speedtest Global Index by Ookla shows Singapore has the world's highest median fixed broadband speed.

Even Citi analysts acknowledged in a November 27 report that "Singapore is also a growing area of specialized CSPs standing up data centers in the region. The contrast becomes more pronounced when accounting for Singapore's size. On a per capita basis, Singapore spent US$600 on Nvidia chips in the quarter, whereas the US spent only US$60 and China spent approximately US$3 per capita.

"That's the billing location of the customer and not necessarily the point of consumption," said Srikanth Chandrashekhar on LinkedIn, responding to a post by former Temasek director Sang Shin. Sang Shin had suggested the chips might be bound for data centers in Singapore, which seems a reasonable idea, since most Nvidia chips are headed for data centers, and Singapore has many such facilities.

What's next for Singapore's data center sector?

According to an article by ASEAN Briefing, 7% of total electricity consumption in Singapore goes to data centers, and it is projected to reach 12% by 2030. In short, the city-state will likely attract more players in the market, especially after lifting a moratorium on data centers in January 2022. Initially enacted in 2019, this moratorium responded to the considerable energy consumption associated with data centers.

Singapore has rapidly emerged as a prime destination for this pivotal industry due to its technological prowess, regulatory strength, and enticing incentives.

Firstly, the Pioneer Certificate Incentive (PC) program encourages companies, including those in the data center sector, to enhance their capabilities and undertake new or expanded activities in Singapore.

The incentive is aimed at companies involved in global or regional headquarters (HQ) activities, managing, coordinating, and controlling business operations for a group of companies. Designed to drive substantial investment contributions and foster advancements in leading industries, the PC aligns with the characteristics and potential of the data center sector.

The incentive is a win-win situation for both companies and the city-state as to qualify; businesses must introduce advanced technology, skill sets, or know-how, surpassing prevailing standards in Singapore. Additionally, they should engage in pioneering activities that substantially contribute to the economy.

Another allure of incentives includes GST waivers on importing data center equipment and covering servers, networking gear, and cooling systems. Then there's Singapore's dedication to sustainability, that stands out through initiatives such as the SS 564 Green Data Centers Standard and the Data Center Carbon Footprint Assessment (DC-CFA) program.

The nation's commitment to data security and privacy is also reflected in its regulatory framework, notably the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) and the Cybersecurity Act, fostering a trustworthy environment for data center operations.

SINGAPORE - Fifteen-year-olds here have emerged top performers in an international benchmarking study to measure how well students use their knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems.

Based on the performance of 6,606 students from 149 secondary schools and 15 private schools, including international schools and madrasahs, Singapore was ranked No. 1 for mathematics, science and reading in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) 2022.

The study, which is done every three years by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), was delayed by a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the last Pisa study in 2018, Singapore was ranked second after China, which did not participate in the latest study because its schools were closed when the study was being conducted.

Compared with 2018, Singapore students who took part in Pisa 2022 maintained their performance in mathematics and improved substantially in science, but their performance declined slightly in reading.

The Education Ministry said the decline in reading for Singapore students is similar to that of their peers in many other countries and may reflect the impact of a global change in reading habits.

The latest Pisa cycle also showed that Singapore continued to have high proportions of students who did well.

In reading, for instance, 23 per cent of students in Singapore were top performers. For mathematics and science, the figures were 41 per cent and 24 per cent respectively. Top performers achieve proficiency of level five and six.

Similarly, Singapore had fewer students who were low performers in reading at 11 per cent and in mathematics and science at 8 per cent. Such students achieve proficiency below level two.

MOE said in a press release that the Pisa 2022 results, taken together with the results of another international benchmarking study, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls), affirm the resilience of Singapore's education system.

In the Pirls study released in May, Primary 4 pupils in Singapore emerged as the top readers in the world.

MOE paid tribute to teachers here and said the results reflect the dedicated efforts of schools and teachers in supporting the learning and well-being of students throughout the pandemic.

Noting that Pisa tests students' ability to apply what they have learnt to unfamiliar settings and real-world contexts, MOE said: "Singapore students have shown that they are good in mathematical reasoning, can distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information, and use computational thinking (for example, pattern recognition, defining algorithms) as they solve complex problems in a variety of modern contexts."

These are critical skills that will prepare students well for global changes like digitalisation, the emergence of new technologies and the advent of new professions.

MOE also said “Singapore students continue strong performance despite Covid-19 disruptions, including those from lower socio-economic status homes”, based on figures that showed students from disadvantaged homes did better than the OECD average in all three domains tested.

The Pisa 2022 survey highlighted a few problem spots for Singapore students.

One was their perception of a lack of support from their parents, and another was the lack of physical activity among them, with 29 per cent reporting that they do not exercise at all after school.

Commenting on the results, Education Minister Chan Chun Sing said on his Instagram page: "Great job to our students for persevering with their learning despite disruptions caused by the pandemic.

"My deepest gratitude to our educators too, who adapted quickly when learning pivoted online, and came up with many innovative teaching methods to ensure that learning continued."

He added: "We will not rest on our laurels and continue to work closely with schools, parents and partners to support our students in their education journey.

"Let us always strive to surpass ourselves, rather than focusing on outperforming others."

Dr Andreas Schleicher, director for education and skills and special adviser on education policy to OECD's secretary-general, praised Singapore for continuing to lead the global league tables in Pisa.

"It has been one of the few countries that saw no negative effects on learning outcomes during the pandemic," he said, adding that there are many factors at play, including the consistent and high expectations on students and an instructional system that provides rigour in terms of cognitive demand and focus.

He said another factor is the push to teach fewer things in greater depth, and coherence -- in terms of modelling learning progressions carefully, for example, in Singapore mathematics.

Noting some areas of concern, he said: "Social disparities in learning outcomes remain clearly visible in Singapore. Also, in terms of students' sense of belonging, Singapore is more an average rather than a high performer.

"Not least, we have seen a decline in parental support and engagement in Singapore, an area in which Singapore used to be strong."

Are you as smart as Singapore's 15-year-olds?

Try answering these four maths questions. Tap the image to enlarge.