6/01/2006
mine is bigger than yours
Singapore is planning to build the observation wheel (something like ferris wheel) named Singapore Flyer. The Singapore Flyer is targeted to operate before CNY 2008. Based on wiki, it is 150m in diameter, and 178m high. Beijing also made the same decision, but bigger. The target is before 2008 Olympics. It is 198m in diameter, and high 208m high.
Several other countries are in this competition too. Anyway, it is apparently the Asia comes to an era to worship technology, to break engineering world record, and build even more magnificent man-made landmarks in the globe.
But, remember one thing, the western did this years ago, and they are happy to participate these prosperous projects.
The above article is posted in One Season in Singapore. It may not be an article directly linked to cost of living. But in a way it has some relations to it.
The article points to how third world countries and mentality will keep pushing them to spend on things which can glorify and cover up their incompetence to make advances in tangible technological projects and developments. So something like the biggest this and the biggest that will do.
And they employed the Angmohs, sorry I am not being xenophobic here, who willingly recommend to them all the great advances in the western world. And they all laugh happily to the banks.
Third world nations have this ability and propensity to spend on self glorification and to imitate the west. The west have their football leagues and third world nations will want that too. They won the world cup. Third world nation also want to win the world cup at all cost. They climb Mt Everest, cross the Antartic, third world people also want to do the same. They have the technology to flirt in space. Third world nations who can't even build a car wanted to send men to space too.
What else?
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11 comments:
It's called ego, and it's a human trait nothing to do with being from first or third world countries. It is manifested many times in shopping malls around the world where people splurge thousands of dollars on plasma screen TVs when a 200 dollar 21-inch TV would perform the job just as well.
buying a bigger car is from my own pocket. buying a bigger ferris wheel is from the taxpayer's pocket. and this money can be put to better use.
a plasma or lcd tv is very different from the conventional crt tv. but to go beyond that, like going to hdtv is a different matter. it is diminishing return, like hifi. a pair of reasonably good speakers may cost a $1000. but people will pay for a pair that cost $30,000 or even $200,000.
when we go hdtv, hopefully the people will have a choice not to pay for it as it is going one step up, an equivalent of a hifi enthusiasts paying for quality that they may not need or cannot appreciate. but make it available to those who want it and willing to pay for it.
but by all means, if there is no additional cost and people only pay for the quality of the tv they can afford.
personally i will enjoy hdtv.
where does it say that the the ferris wheel will be paid for by the government ? basic function of tv is to watch moving images on the screen so in that aspect a crt tv performs that job.
at the personal level, people should be given the choice to indulge in whatever they want as long as it is their own money.
a good pair of speakers or sound system can mean so much to an enthusiast. and between a plasma/lcd as against a crt, for those who want to enjoy the sharpness and not seeing all the lines, well, its a personal escapee.
sometimes i also wonder why does someone insists on paying more to see black as really black and not grey or white as realy white and not bluish white. my mother would not know the dif or mind the dif. she would be very happy as long as there are images on the screen. : )
still haven't answered my question. Show me where it is said that the ferris wheel will be built using tax payer's money.
the ferris wheel is just a convenient example even if the money does not come direct from the taxpayers. the durian's money came from the Singapore Pool and some other donors. the $6 billion, i think, for the rebuilding of sentosa, came from where?
it is public money, directly or indirectly. the funding of all the foreign sportsmen and even the thought of a world cup team, where would the money come from? sponsors, donations, etc. no taxpayers money?
these are money that can be channelled to help the 250,000 who really need help. not for someone's grandiose plan and personal ego trip. these kind of things should be left to the third world countries. as a first world nation, we should grow out of it long ago.
we were young once, and we have our share of being young and thoughtless and wasting our time and resources for the immaterial. as we age, and our senses got stabilised, we should be more sensible.
quote 'still haven't answered my question. Show me where it is said that the ferris wheel will be built using tax payer's money.'unquote.
i have re read my post and the article i copied, but cannot find anywhere that said the ferris wheel will be paid by the govt or by the taxpayers money.
It is either tax payers money or it isn't. No such thing as indirect tax payer's money. If some of the money for building the Esplanade came from Singapore Pools, then that money belongs to Singapore Pools, the entity, not tax payers. Following your analogy, you can also say the money earned by a civil servant is also tax payer's money so if the civil servant splurges his bonus on a lavish trip to Las Vegas then will you also say that is wasting tax payers money and it should be used to help the 250,000 poor people ?
your argument along this line is stretching a bit too thin.
all the govt's money are taxpayer's money. but once paid to a civil servant, it becomes that person's money to spend.
in the case of singapore pool, donating to the durian directly or paying in the form of tax, the money eventually is destined to the govt's coffer, yes, become tax payer's money. but money it has to pay to its employees, once paid to employees, becomes employees money.
the money of singapool pools or any glcs, is the people's money, or money belonging to the tax payers. our nation's money. whether paid to tax, or kept as operating fund or current asset, still belongs to the people.
Well, if you can't touch it can yous till claim the money belongs to you ? It's akin to a child trust account. The money theoretically belongs to the minor but the guardian has the legal right to do as he sees fit.
i am always very sore about this point. not only the national coffers or money kept as national reserves. i am talking about our cpf money. untouchable for a long time to come. many will die with a lot of money left in the cpf.
money that one cannot spend is not our money. it belongs to whoever inherits them.
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