5/28/2013

Too much money we can afford some luxuries


We are so rich as a country. In fact we are the richest country in the world on a per capita basis. No I am not complaining. You cannot complain about being the richest people in the world unless one is crazy.

We are so rich, some becoming multi millionaires, millionaires or half millionaires, and we also have one of the largest national reserves to boot. I think the govt must be feeling very good, smiling at the statement of our reserves everyday. There is nothing wrong with this either. Why shouldn’ t the govt smile when we have so much money to spend and to buy whatever we want, including luxuries?

Like all the rich tycoons, as a super rich, we have the spare cash to go for a little bit of the nice things to make us look good and feel good, buy whatever we fancy. We can have the things that are good to have but not really necessary. Why not, when we can afford them?

We have one of the most futuristic and expensive artificial garden that cost billions and hundreds of millions to maintain. Necessary? Obviously not but good to have when our pockets are overflowing with cash. We spent to have Formula 1 car racing here. This one they said intangible benefits outweighed the tangible cost. Small change for some great fun. It is like throwing a great party for our high society guests.

We build world class universities by paying the best professors in the world to be here. Would we miss anything if we just have a few lesser like in the past? I don’t think so, but very good and nice to have.

We build joint universities with the best mortar and the most brilliant professors as well. Hopefully the output, the students will be the best as well. Money well spent? Controversial but never mind when money is aplenty.

We have several prominent schools on international and national policies, some called it think tanks, filled with academics from all over the world. What for? Prestige or what? Maybe Singapore will one day become a centre of academic excellence. Dunno how much but money well spent? Necessary? Never mind, money not an issue. We can afford these think tanks and to pay the professoris of the world to be here to write papers and exchange ideas. It is only a matter of time before the world will be begging to read the great papers from our think tanks and inviting our think tank professors to speak. Tangible returns may not be much, but intangible benefits, goodwill, reputation and image must be damn shiok. Singapore is not just a casino or sin city, but is where great intellectuals resided. The modern day Picassos, Van Goghs, Rembrants, the Newtons, Einsteins may emerged from the great and stimulating environment we have created. This island could have the biggest concentration of the best minds and academics one day.

A Singapore renaissance is in the making. Only rich country who are willing to invest in the richness of living will get this kind of richness in life. Money is really convenient and useful to live in dreams and make dreams materialized. Poor countries would never be able to afford such luxuries.

47 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great minds flourishing in Singapore?
You are kidding right?

Please name some Singaporeans who have contributed to the betterment of human beings.

Anonymous said...

10.31am, I can name a few like lky, lsl, gct etc

Anonymous said...

I also can name a few, like MBT, KBW,VB...and Matilah Singapura said got many people sacrificed for it?

Who are the many people?

Anonymous said...

I asked for Singaporeans who have contributed to the betterment of human beings.

I'm not asking about bank accounts.

jjgg said...

How did our little town get so rich? The performances of gic n temasick don't figure..so it can only be taxes n land sales...govt investments returns are nothing to hoot about!! If that is so, then ,per capita,Singaporeans must be the most highly taxed in the universe. Don't believe? Ask to look at the reserves of all the stats board..bulging with dollars from govt tax n services..look at land sales..making all these obscene money from its citizens...n also look at the way the govt spend on its social responsibilities in providing healthcare n the weak n needy among us..even getting our own money becomes a chore..there is no gratification shown by the govt..the ocassional handouts close to election times is only to cement it's own position..big deal meh? RB..don't hope for luxuries..just hope no new taxes...hehe

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

We live for the state. The luxuries are for the state. As long as the state is happy and glorious, that is good enough.

The people should sacrifice for the good of the state.

Anonymous said...

Then who it's the state?

Anonymous said...

Change the government, no one can do any worse!

Anonymous said...

It is true govt get so rich by sucking money from its people through income tax property tax corporate tax but I highly doubt the govt can suck much money from losers, in fact it is the other way round, losers sucking money from the govt lei.

Anonymous said...

Actually, with the very high cost of living, you need to be quite rich in order to be still happy and satisfied under PAP govt.

So I guess around 43% are quite rich, and therefore happy and satisfied with PAP.

Or else why would they still want to vote for PAP even in a by election, where "WP not ready to be govt" is not an issue?

Anonymous said...

rb
You are absolutely right. The luxuries are for the state. Not for the people.

Millions of Chinese people died building the Great Wall of China.
The Great Wall of China was for the benefit of the state of China.

"We want Singapore to do well, so Singaporeans can do well".
Lee Hsien Loong

It's all for the state.
When the state does well, ... somehow by magic ... the benefits will trickle down to us.
If you happen to live long enough.

I vote Opposition because I want Singaporeans to do well.
When Singaporeans do well, Singapore will do well.

The citizens come before the state.
It's called democracy.

Anonymous said...

Singaporeans are already doing very well, thank you very much. If you are not doing well, then either you must swimming in the wrong river or against the current.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@1052:

>> Who are the many people?

You must be quite young. Here's an example: Many of the buildings and homes that Singaporeans enjoy today were built by Samsui women -- women from southern China, wo sacrificed by not marrying, and working damn bloody hard, living out their lives in awful conditions.

The "luckier" ones worked as domestic servants. Many of those spoilt brats in the PAP who tekan the people, had Samsui women servants to wipe their fucking arses and carry their lunch to school.

You want to talk about hard work for low pay? You better shut the fuck up and be grateful for what you have, until you can work all your life like a Samsui woman. These "foreign talents" are almost forgotten. People just take their contribution for granted.

You are rich, thanks to many faceless, nameless people who have come before you. They quietly went about their work. They didn't have an internet to Kow Peh Kow Boo about life. They didn't have "entitlement mentality".

Mull on that for a moment.

Anonymous said...

This is funny.
A post from a blind & deaf PAPig

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@1224:

>> The citizens come before the state.

No, they don't. If you believe otherwise, show proof.

>> It's called democracy.

You can call it any name. Naming something and actually practicing in in reality -- two very different things ;-)

BTW "democracy" in Singapore is PARLIAMENTARY democracy. i.e. you elect MP's to represent you, as a collective.

Bear in mind that when in parliament, these elected MPs vote with their conscience, as well as taking into consideration the collective views of their constituents. Their ultimate choice in parliament might be against your wishes. But of course you knew that when you chose him to represent you...right?

Better keep that in mind next t
ime you simply think that you can vote in any fanciful whim you might imagine after a few drinks.

Anonymous said...

11.06am, AiyaI without them, u think your pathetic hdb 99 years leasehold flat with a 70 years lease left can fetch 1 million meh. Come on, sure they take million per year but they also make 800000 thousand household millionaires mah. If you take 800,000 multiply by one million, u get 800 billion about same amount in the reserve.

oldhorse42 said...

Yeah we got so much money that we are burning million $$$ Ferrari on the road. We used to burn joss paper on the road.
The govt is so rich because the people are working for the govt. In other countries, it is the reverse: the govt is working for the people.

Anonymous said...

I cannot agree more because when people look at just their CPF statements alone they already feel so rich.

But, too bad. You feel rich, but you cannot touch the money. So, what can I say further!

Anonymous said...

For once I agreed with our super talent matilar that cpf is a tax. I always consider it as a tax so I never complain about the money left there. Just do my best to made money from cpf on property so that after 55, I took whatever they allowed and the remaking balance to me is the final tax. If I can get some out in due course it's a bonus.

I have told my kids that cpf like income tac, gst etc is just another tax so that they don't plan the balance as part of their wealth. Matilar is correct that if cpf is your money, do u need to beg for its release.

The government is very successful to let u think that it's not a tax and its your money that is why all these misunderstanding. So you motherfuckers better wake up hor

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

The smart ones will take out as much as possible. The not so smart ones will see a lot of their money stucked and becomes untouchable. And the stupid ones will keep putting more money into it thinking that it is very safe, high interest rate and will not run away.

Anonymous said...

'The government is very successful to let u think that it's not a tax and its your money that is why all these misunderstanding.'

- People must believe that the CPF and the reserves are the people money right from the start. The current ruling party just love to bully the people and use dirty tricks to make things inaccessible for the people. This kind of party is useless, greedy, dirty, lousy, corrupted and should be kicked out. They are swore in as custodians not owners of the country and her people. They owe the country and countrymen and women a duty of care.

Anonymous said...

'We are so rich as a country'

- Depending on how 'rich' is being defined. We have the highest percentage of people living in less than 100 years leasehold housing. We have one of the highest amount of national debt. We have one of the highest amount of individual debt due to high prices of housing and cars. THe rich based on GDP per capita is probably a bubble based on debts.

Anonymous said...

"We have one of the highest amount of individual debt due to high prices of housing and cars"

So, who are those contributing to the statistics that show we are the richest country in the world?

The tens of thousands of millionaires of course. And that surely includes ministers. So, what does the statistics tell us about Singapore being ranked the richest country in the world? To the bottom 25% or thereabouts, it is all a load of shit in reality.

Anonymous said...

Engadget

[Pentagon report:
Chinese hackers accessed F-35B and other advanced US weapons systems]


"The list of weapons was part of an earlier DoD report condemning Chinese cyber-espionage activities,
but had been confidential until now."


http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/28/china-hacking-advanced-us-weapons/?

Anonymous said...

Every dick cyber espionage activities have something to do with chinese right? how come cannot be other countries leh? because they are easily bullied like sinkies?

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

The Americans are the best. They never hack into any other countries. Such honourable gentlemen.

Anonymous said...

RB
The not so smart ones had better be ruled by the smarts. At least they still have something.

If the not so smarts ones are also ruled by "not so smarts" or "pretend smarts", then I scare they may not have anything left. Not even 99 leasehold.

Anonymous said...

In America, anything is possible. Even a peanut farmer, actor, ranch man can be running the country. One day even a contractor can be running Singapore. Good right ?

Anonymous said...

Chin leng, I could not agree with you more those stupid people leaving their money in cpf as it has higher interest rate then bank and those put in more including for their parents etc. the money once go in is not yours anymore. Rules sucks suks can change so I just pity those motherfuckers. Matilar is damn right in this one but I have to compliment him by saying knn to him lor

Anonymous said...

>>>450pm

unless the contractor is LKY son or grandson.

Anonymous said...

The Americans don't hack into the computers of other countries by themselves. They have the CIA subcontracting the job to someone else, someone like the Israelis. Or someone who is an enemy of their enemy, who is therefore their friend.

But in reality, the Americans are the biggest culprit in everything against human dignity. Biggest weapons dealer, biggest currency manipulator, biggest trouble maker, in a word the biggest hypocrite.

Anonymous said...

How much money do we have in the reserves?

I'm voting in the Opposition because I want to know.
Also I want to double confirm the money is really there.

Anonymous said...

Latest bad news. Your blog may have to be shut down! Read this.

"New licensing scheme for news websites that reach 50,000 people a month
Singapore | Updated today at 05:29 PM
By Tessa Wong
From June 1, websites that regularly report Singapore news and have significant reach will require individual licences to operate.

Currently, most websites are covered automatically under a class licence scheme. But the Media Development Authority (MDA) will require websites to be individually licensed once they meet two criteria.

These are: if they report an average of at least one article per week on Singapore's news and current affairs over a period of two months, and have at least 50,000 unique visitors from Singapore each month over a period of two months. The individual licenses have to be renewed every year.

Under the new framework, these sites must also put up a performance bond of $50,000, similar to that required for niche TV broadcasters.

Bro every one needs to register lah, see the requirements ��"

patriot said...

They are out to kill all the popular social political blogs.

Bloggers may have to get together to reason with MDA. The $50k Bond is absolutely unreasonable. Blogging is not a business or job that generate income.

patriot

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Real bad news.

Let's wait for more clarity. Mine is a blog. I don't really report news but made commentaries. Let's hear our open and transparent MDA what they have to say about blogs like this one.

If cannot then I will just write about animals. May write a sequel to the Animal Farm.

Anonymous said...

Methinks you write a sequel to the ever popular "Journey to the West!" lagi shiok. You know the holy and sincere virtuous monk with 3 disciples facing and overcoming all kinds of evils, demons, devils and overcoming them along the way. That will be more interesting than George Orwell's Animal Farm! If you write fairy tales like that, you may be exempted from the 50K bond licence. Langgar!

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Hahaha...there are many ways to write political satire.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

Redbean, @655 is probably correct.

You could already predict something awful about to happen after Kishore's opinion.

Even if you don't fall into the definition of 'website' being a blog - - a blog being more like a journal or diary, I wouldn't put it past them to extend the law to attempt to silence ALL dissenting opinion.

I suggest everyone familiarise themselves with TOR, and install, on all devices. I have TOR on all my machines and mobile devices - - Android users have to 'root' their devices to ensure good security.

Come GE 2016, the internet will definitely be THE battlefield, no doubts about that.

IMO the PAP is preparing to ensure they have an advantage, by playing cheat, and using laws to silence the masses. Of course they will cite "social cohesion" or some other nonsense. Shanmugam already indicated that he doesn't support a free press, so you can forget about "citizen journalism".

Computers and personal mobile devices are tools of personal empowerment and weapons for liberty and freedom.

As far as I'm concerned, MDA has declared war.

So be it.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

Who uses TOR?

http://bitcoinmedia.com/who-uses-tor/

https://www.torproject.org/about/torusers.html.en

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

Press Freedom Barometer

http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-barometer-netizens-imprisoned.html?annee=2013

Please don't be one of these unfortunate individuals and become a statistic.

Singapore already has a shit report card at RWB

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

Hahaha, all of you don't be so small minded lah. 50,000 IP a month is a belly big number. And what is $50,000 bond? Not even a peanut.

Must think big and act big. Don't behave like a frog in a well: )

Chua Chin Leng aka redbean said...

It is just reported that one of our little luxuries or toys is going bankrupt. In today's media, the Singapore Flyer going bankrupt.

Who is going to bail this one out? I hope the furistic garden will not go the same way. That one is really big to maintain.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

Excellent news! It's an ugly piece of shit anyway. I'm not surprised. Tickets are expensive.

Fuck the bail outs. In the market, let the bad ideas fail. Let those gardens fail too. Put pasar malam. More fun.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know how much these luxuries are costing the taxpayers? All of them can be closed down without affecting the lives of Singaporeans and with all the money to spare.

Unnecessary uninhibited extravagance.

Anonymous said...

And I thought they have nothing to fear. First round, internet portals won the war against the papayas and msm. Keep up the good work. We will kick the papayas out of their millions dollars paid by screwing people lives jobs soon.

Anonymous said...

'Let those gardens fail too'

- let those casinos fail too.