HOME owner Christophe Inglin's utilities bill is the envy of most people. For at least the past two months, he has not had to pay a single cent.

IN JANUARY last year, he proposed to his girlfriend. A month later, they headed to the Registry of Marriages to say 'I do'. In June this year, they pooled their savings together and bought a resale three-room Housing Board flat in Serangoon Avenue 2 for $256,000. A month later, they moved in. They are both 26, in love and raring to start a family. In sum, they are like most Singaporean newly-weds.

HOME-GROWN Raffles Education Corporation, which operates three universities and 22 colleges across nine countries in the Asia-Pacific region, has told its staff there will be no retrenchments and no salary, incentive or bonus cuts either.