Press Centre

This is how the IMF/ World Bank Press Centre looks like.

It was an eye-opener for me to see so many reporters from the various international media all congregated at one place. Reuters, AP, Bloomberg, DowJones...these are names that I only read about on the internet. Interesting.

But the meetings and seminars are not my cup of tea. After all, I am not an Econs student, and financial charts are no more than strangers to me.


On the far background of this picture are the Singapore Desk, IMF Desk and World Bank Desk. The representatives are there to facilitate queries from the media. They also make regular announcements to inform journalists on press conferences.

There is free seating in the main area of the Press Centre, so journalists can sit anywhere they like. There are two or three phones attached to every table, with broadband cables available as well. The big brothers like Reuters, AP, Bloomberg and DowJones etc have a booth exclusive to themselves. SPH has one too.

There are two tea breaks in the Press Centre, one in the late morning, one in the afternoon. I have not had the luxury of tasting the delicacies although some colleagues say the food is superb!

There is also free supply of mineral water situated around the convention centre. Just open any refrigerator and grab a bottle, as easy as that.

For those journalists who are extremely motivated and interested in enhancing themselves through reading, there are a lot of free books and publications available. And I mean a lot. There are even more on sale.

I would say that the whole arrangement of the press conferences and seminars are very media-friendly, as they are held just a few steps away from the Press Centre. But the Civil Society Organisation (CSO) protest area is quite a distance away, and it can get quite tiring having to make trips to-and-fro!