<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Is there or isn't there?
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- 4 or less paragraphs so show all paragraphs first before showing the media and bkstry and stuffs --><!-- story content : start -->'I am puzzled by reports of a recession. Shopping malls and food outlets are always crowded.' <!-- story content : start -->MISS ISABEL MATHEWS: 'I am a little puzzled by reports of a recession, which run counter to my observations. When my friends and I visit shopping malls and food outlets, they are always crowded. At food outlets, we have to wait to get a place to sit or to place orders. This is also true of shopping centres where the crowds seem to be as big, if not bigger than previously. People seem to be spending money as liberally as before, though one should expect a little belt-tightening in view of the reported fall in income of at least a section of the population. Is it because we have not come across the section of the population badly affected by the recession, who do not visit shopping centres or food outlets? An American report suggested an unhealthy fallout from the recession because more people have resorted to less expensive fast food to tide over the economic crisis. Fast-food outlets have also trimmed prices of mass consumption items, while perhaps increasing prices of delicacies. The report stated that health officials have expressed concern that this switch to more fast food would affect the health of the nation. I am not sure whether this is true in Singapore, where it would be an unhealthy development, especially among students and young adults.'
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- 4 or less paragraphs so show all paragraphs first before showing the media and bkstry and stuffs --><!-- story content : start -->'I am puzzled by reports of a recession. Shopping malls and food outlets are always crowded.' <!-- story content : start -->MISS ISABEL MATHEWS: 'I am a little puzzled by reports of a recession, which run counter to my observations. When my friends and I visit shopping malls and food outlets, they are always crowded. At food outlets, we have to wait to get a place to sit or to place orders. This is also true of shopping centres where the crowds seem to be as big, if not bigger than previously. People seem to be spending money as liberally as before, though one should expect a little belt-tightening in view of the reported fall in income of at least a section of the population. Is it because we have not come across the section of the population badly affected by the recession, who do not visit shopping centres or food outlets? An American report suggested an unhealthy fallout from the recession because more people have resorted to less expensive fast food to tide over the economic crisis. Fast-food outlets have also trimmed prices of mass consumption items, while perhaps increasing prices of delicacies. The report stated that health officials have expressed concern that this switch to more fast food would affect the health of the nation. I am not sure whether this is true in Singapore, where it would be an unhealthy development, especially among students and young adults.'
