3/21/2007

it's so unbecoming

Based on a list of factors Singapore is name the most conducive city for business but lags behind other big cities in other areas. We scored badly or at the bottom in areas like lifestyle assets, intellectual capital, technology and innovations, and even financial clouts. Have no worry. We shall overcome and be number one in these areas too. It is so easy to achieve. Lifestyle assets, once the marinas and all the high end properties are up, all these rich residents will bring in their pleasure crafts and all their Rolls Royce and antiques and exquisite jewelries here. Technology and innovation, and they are talking about broadband penetration. We just introducted this and in no time we will exceed the numbers needed. Maybe our Bus Arrival Time Panels will put us ahead of other countries. This innovative act is hard to beat. And taxi waiting time too. Intellectual capital is quite puzzling. With so many super talents and foreign talents, how can we be rated so lowly? Maybe we need the 6.5 million population of talents to put us up there in this category. Lack of financial clout, do what Mahathir did. Make more billionaires. What is unbecoming is that we are placed joint fifth with New York in terms of safety and security. Hmmm, all the muggings in the streets of NY and Central Park. Are we near there or already there?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you don't like progress, why don't you remove the picture of The Esplanade you have attached to your nick?

I don't know what reports you cite, but be patient—I guarantee you the developers have plans to build new structures to give S'pore that "zing".

The rest is up to the people. There is no such thing as a "boring place". There are only boring people

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

depends on what you mean by progress. buying an expensive watch to look at the time is progress, or getting wealthy. some may not need a watch anymore because they have many other technologies on them. that could be progress.

buying a satellite control watch for matilah and asking matilah to pay for it, hmmm, i don't think that is progress. for i never ask matilah if he needs want or willing to pay for it.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

I have no idea what you are trying to say, but it would help if you post a link to this (or these) "reports" about Singapore's lack of whatever.

I use as my main benchmark the Heritage Foundation'sIndex of Economic Freedom

And as you can see S'pore is (and has for many years) Number 2 next to Hong Kong. Australia has made it to number 3, edging past the USA.

The point I make constantly—which to this date no one has been able to refute—is that FREEDOM firstly depends on the amount of ECONOMIC FREEDOM (i.e. how "free" is your market?) individuals have.

The simple reason is this: if you are free to make money, then that gives you choices. REMEMBER: all of us have the same 24 hours in the day to "get things done", so basically your money "buys back your TIME" to get things other than your paying job done. For example: I can make enough money for me to be a beach bum most of the time (I buy back my time). However, if I were a villager in tribal Africa, that would be impossible.

Whilst I have many "complaints and grievances" about how the people running the Singapore State conduct themselves, and the Sheeple who support them, I know OBJECTIVELY that S'pore is a darn good place to do business, and to spend your money after you've made it—even if it comes to hopping on a plane—but before you can hop on the plane, you had better make money first.

My theory states that S'poreans and the govt they support are going to fuck things up in the long term, because they let their egos and kiasuism get in the way of looking after and truly nuturing a potentially great nation.

Thankfully, there's us in the PRIVATE SECTOR to do just that, and most of us take LONG TERM views or else we would be in business for very long!

Ask yourself—don't you get a feeling that FOREIGNERS value S'pore and see its potential more so that the victim-mentality locals who incessantly moan and grown about each other and their government? Truly weird huh?

I have always said to these whinging people: if you can't (or won't) get your shit together in Singapore, where do you think you can go to to get your shit together?

Now have a look at the Heritage Foundation's assessment of Thailnad. Not bad, but not so good. Property rights protection are a big worry, as is corruption. Same for Malaysia, and Indonesia where property rights are doubtful indeed.

The governments in 3 nation states all have issues with Singapore, because of the S'pore govt does big business. Sure, this is bad for freedom in the long term, BUT in all these 3 countries, the folks in govt do business TOO. (Thaksin was doing business right through his prime ministership—with the majority support of the voters).

So what could "save Singapore" from its Matilah fate?

The simple answer: diminution of the state's power. How to do this? Privatise everything, of course. BUT I skipped one fundamental step: ENTREPRENEURSHIP.

Entrepreneurship rests on one character trait: that an individual is not just a UNIQUE individual, but he uses that special gift to take MASSIVE ACTION as a privateer to improve his life by finding sustainable ways of improving the lives of others.

In other words: SERVICE. If you want to get into culture, Singapore culture has never been about SERVICE. It's been about being kiasu and acting in narrow-minded selfish ways instead of having a broad context and acting rationally selfishly by attending to the self-interest of others, all of course in the self-interest of oneself. Those privateers who understand this are the old rich in Singapore, and of course the new rich too.

The only legitimate way to be rich (other than inheritance or by gift) is to increase the wealth of others first. And you need a free markets and property rights protection to do this effectively, which people have in Singapore.

Therefore there is NO EXCUSE to not better one's existence in Singapore—even though the govt gets in the way with their high-handed nonsense on a daily basis.

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

what i was saying is that the survey is a load of rubbish, GIGO.

we shouldn't care too much about the nonsense and not to indulge in trying to be number one based on some contrived data and wasting money and resources on it.

Anonymous said...

What are you— deaf or blind?

You criticise a survey, but you fail to put up a link to it, slack-arse.

What are we supposed to do—from an opinion from you opinion?

You want a relative point of view from a relative point of view?

More proof that your journalistic integrity is suspect ;)