WORKERS CLEAN A GLASS ROOF IN SINGAPORE, 1998-12-28 (photo)

Workers clean the glass canopy over Singapore's Overseas Union Bank (OUB) with brooms and water December 29 as other buildings in the banking district loom overhead. Since last year Singapore has been looking at ways to make banking and the rest of its financial sector more competitive, with the aim of building the republic's position as a key centre in global markets. The merger of Singapore's largest bank, the Development Bank of Singapore, and fifth-largest bank, the Post Office Savings Bank earlier this year, is seen as a government move to prod privately-owned Singapore banks to merge as local banks prepare for international competition during the Asian financial crisis. JIR/WS